Visions of Vampires
by Kennie Gajos
Summary: When Faith drops off an alien artifact at the SGC the last thing she expects is to be psychically linked to a member of SG1.
1. What Dreams May Come

I make no profit from the production and distribution of this story. The rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Stargate SG1 belong to their respective owners and unfortunately, I'm not one of them. I don't even own a TV. Got a computer though. 

**What Dreams May Come**

"Sir?"  
General Landry looked up from the stack of paperwork to see Sergeant Harriman framed in the doorway. "There's a Faith Lehane here to see you."  
"Show her into the briefing room." The General told him, grateful that this time at least, Jack had bothered to tell him about his visitor and her background. "And Walter? Tell SG1 to meet us there."  
Walter nodded. "Yes Sir."

The newly reformed SG1 entered the briefing room to discover Faith sat in one of the leather seats, her feet propped up on the table, idly cleaning under her nails with a knife the guards on duty had somehow missed when they searched her.  
"Hey guys." She said, "Brought ya a present." She rested a hand on the medium sized crate resting on the table.  
Teal'c beamed at her. "Greetings Slayer Faith."  
"Slayer?" Mitchell asked.  
"Tell you later." Daniel told him as they took their seats at the table.  
"Miss Lehane." General Landry said, entering the room from his office.  
Faith's face twisted ever so slightly. "Call me Faith." She told the General.  
He nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, sitting down. "I understand that you've discovered something that you believe may help to defend Earth."  
Faith shrugged. "Well, we don't really know what it does. We were going through some stuff of the Council's that we found the other month and found this…"  
She tore the lid off the crate with one easy move and carefully lifted out a metallic blue structure about a foot high. A dodecahedral umber crystal appeared to be growing from the top of the object and there were several slots in the base.  
"Willow says that it's really old and giving off some kind of funky energy so we thought of you guys." Faith lifted six clear crystal spires from the crates. "We also found these next to it."  
"Cool." Mitchell picked one of the rods up to get a better look.  
Daniel was puzzling over the marks on the base of the device. "It looks Ancient. But I'm not sure of the dialect. I'll have to look it up." He cautioned.  
"I'll run some tests on it in my lab." Sam said as Mitchell leant forward and slotted the crystal spear in his hands into one of the spaces on the artifact. There was a bright flash from the orange crystal and Mitchell froze.  
Faith heard a low humming just at the edges of her hearing that was slowly building in pitch. She grabbed the device and pulled it out of Colonel Mitchell's grasp, her arm accidentally grazing the crystal spike as she did so.  
She felt a massive jolt sear up her arm and burrow its way into her mind just as she pushed the device away from her. The darkness came quickly.

She woke slowly and easily recognized the room she was in as some kind of military hospital. A young doctor was hovering over her almost as soon as she opened her eyes.  
"I'm Doctor Lam. How're you feeling?" The pretty doctor asked.  
Faith took stock. "Five by five." She answered, sitting upright. The doc looked like she might object so Faith swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. "I'm good to go." She assured the doctor.  
Doctor Lam looked like she still might object but a small sound coming from the bed behind her had her whirling around to check on an awakening Colonel Mitchell.  
"What happened?" He asked.  
"You activated the device Faith brought." Sam said, entering the room with Daniel in tow. "As far as I can tell it's still emitting low levels of energy on a specific frequency. We'll know more soon."  
"Rookie mistake." Daniel commented as Doctor Lam checked Mitchell's vitals. "Faith pulled the artifact away from you but she got zapped at the same time."  
Colonel Mitchell's eyes sought Faith as she stood to one side.  
"How do you feel?" Doctor Lam asked him.  
"Fine." Mitchell answered, slightly surprised by how normal he felt.  
"Well, I see no reason why you can't get up." She said. "But I'm confining the two of you to base for twenty four hours in case any symptoms occur."

Twenty minutes and one argument with General Landry later, Faith was installed in one of the VIP rooms with armed security to make sure she 'wasn't disturbed'. She quickly fell back on old habits learned during her time in prison. Only difference as far as she was concerned was that she couldn't smoke in the SGC.  
Pacing the confines of her room she came to the decision that a nicotine-deprived Slayer was a pissed-off Slayer and if anyone objected to her going up top for a smoke then they could suffer the consequences.  
Five minutes later she was stood in the bushes just outside the tunnel entrance to Cheyenne Mountain, inhaling the first drag of smoke down into her lungs. She released the air with a long drawn out sigh as she felt her body begin to relax.  
She could see her bike from here, she realized, thinking longingly about just hopping on board and riding wherever the road took her.

"There's blood on the clear crystal." Sam announced, stepping back for a swab.  
"Faith's gone." Mitchell said on his way out of the door.  
Sam hesitated, torn between taking a sample and following Mitchell.  
Cam won but her hesitation meant that he was already halfway to the elevators before Sam caught up with him.  
"Cam, wait!" She called out, dodging past Siler. "What do you mean, Faith's gone?"  
He paused, allowing her to close the distance between them and walk at his side.  
"It's weird." He warned running his hand through his hair. "I watching you reach for a swab and then I saw her get on a Harley and drive off."  
They were at the elevators now and approaching them from another direction were an unhappy-looking Daniel and Teal'c.  
"Slayer Faith is missing." Teal'c declared as the two groups met.  
"Told you." Mitchell said, pressing the button to call an elevator.  
"We stopped by to see if Faith wanted to spar with Teal'c and found the two airmen assigned to guard her tied to the bed. How did you know?" Daniel asked.  
Sam moved to the phone stationed beside the elevators and picked it up. "Colonel Carter for General Landry." She told the operator as Mitchell described seeing Faith ride off. The General picked up and Sam began to report the situation.  
"You actually saw her?" Daniel double-checked.  
"Told you it sounded crazy." Mitchell said, jabbing the button to call the elevator again. "I was watching Sam play with her new toy and then I was watching Faith drive off on a Harley at the same time." The lift pinged to signify it's arrival. "We've gotta go after her."  
"After who?" Faith asked, stepping out of the elevator.  
Mitchell stared at her. "Where did you go?"  
"Can't smoke in the mountain." Faith told him. "Who we going after?"  
"Cancel that General," Sam said into the phone. "She just got out of the elevator."  
Faith stared at the group around her for a moment and then her face visibly hardened as she began to walk away from them.  
"Faith, wait!" Sam called, hanging up the phone.  
Faith turned around, her face so carefully expressionless that it could have been carved in stone.  
"We have to meet General Landry in the briefing room in ten minutes." Sam told her.  
Faith nodded once and then disappeared around the corner.

"Okay people." General Landry said, settling back into his chair at the head of the table. "What happened?"  
Faith shrugged. "Went for a smoke. Came back."  
"The security footage proves that Slayer Faith is indeed correct." Teal'c said impassively.  
"But I saw her." Mitchell burst out. "She got on her motorbike and drove away. Straight through the barrier. No stopping."  
"It could-" Sam started to say before Faith's quiet voice cut over the top of her.  
"Can't deny I thought about it." The senior Slayer said, her eyes beginning to light up from somewhere deep within. "D'ya think Flyboy seeing my thoughts has something to do with the doohickey?"  
"Well, so far we've been unable to disconnect the crystal from the base of the device but I've only just begun." Sam told her. "I did discover some blood on the crystal and I've sent it to Doctor Lam for further testing. I don't know how Daniel's doing with the translation of the symbols."  
Daniel frowned. "The Ancient dialect used on the device is like nothing I've seen before. I'm not even sure it is Ancient, it could just as easily be a bastardisation of the language by a later civilization. It's pointless to speculate at this point but the few markings I have managed to translate warn of the 'dreams of the many'. Or perhaps just the one. I'll keep working on it."  
"Hey, if ya need any help I can always give Giles or Dawn a call." Faith offered. "Dawnie didn't really get a chance to look at it on account of bein' in another dimension when we found it."  
Despite all he'd seen since arriving at the SGC Mitchell was still having a hard time accepting the idea of magic and vampires. What was next? Bogeymen hiding under his bunk on base?  
Across the table from him, Faith blinked and then laughed. "Actually, the last of the Bogeymen was killed almost a decade ago and they preferred to hide in attics and dungeons."  
The rest of the table stared at them.  
"Keep me informed." Said General Landry, heading back to his office for some aspirin.

Faith scowled as Sam moved something that looked like a cross between a remote and a Gameboy with a dash of aerial around her. Two days of non-stop tests, simulations and translations all because one stupid Air Force Colonel didn't have the brains to know when stop what he was doing and back away. Slowly.  
The damn crystal still wouldn't come out of the freaking machine! She'd been this close to just yanking the fucking thing out yesterday after another one of Grandma's God Quotes had flashed before her eyes but Sam had stopped her. Who cared if they knew what it would happen or not! She certainly didn't.  
Sharing headspace was not fun. The visions were coming thick and fast now and Faith was having to heavily edit her daydreams and thoughts. As far as she was concerned, Flyboy was just plain lucky that they were confined to base and she hadn't had the chance to go slaying recently. At least she had a steady supply of cigarettes coming in, thanks to the little poker game she'd been running the past two nights.  
A vision of roast beef, dripping with gravy flashed before her eyes and as if on cue, her stomach rumbled.  
Damn! This sure as hell wasn't anything like when Red set up a telepathic network before a major battle. That was more 'watch out, someone's trying to bury an axe in your back' and 'Andrew needs help on your right' kind of shouts echoing round your head until you'd killed all the bad guys. This crap was random visions of whatever Flyboy was thinking about filling her mind and pushing out everything else.  
As much as she wanted to go out and kill something she had to wonder if she'd even be able to fight during one of the visions.

Mitchell snagged a cup of red jello and sat down opposite Daniel.  
"Please tell me you've got something." He said, digging into a plateful of macaroni and cheese.  
Daniel looked up from the papers and books spread around him. "Hmm? Oh!"  
The archaeologist scrabbled around pulled a photograph of the markings out from underneath a thick book.  
"Well, it's definitely not Ancient." Daniel said, scratching his head. "The markings are but the syntax is completely different. It could be a code of some kind."  
Mitchell had stopped eating and was staring at Daniel. "Just tell me that I'm not gonna be stuck like this."  
"You're not gonna be stuck like this." Daniel told him. "I just need a little more time to figure out what it says. Besides it's not like you have to stay within a hundred feet of each other."  
"No, I get a psychopath with full visiting rights to my brain instead." Mitchell said, staring into his jello morosely. "And is it just me or does she remind you of Vala?"  
Daniel frowned. "Not really."  
"It's that predatory look she gets in her eyes." Mitchell decided. "It's like she can't decide whether to knock me out or jump me. Except I know she's not planning on jumping me."  
"Faith or Vala?" asked a confused Daniel.  
"Faith." Mitchell paused, a spoonful of red jello suspended in mid-air as a vision of fighting vampires frolicked before him. "Damn!"  
"What?" Daniel asked as Mitchell rubbed his forehead, the jello forgotten.  
"Another vision." Mitchell told him. "Of all the people for me to get mind-melded to, why an antagonistic vampire slayer?" The Colonel asked the ceiling.  
Daniel grinned. "Hey, you wanted to work here."  
"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of off-world missions and kicking the crap out of the Goa'uld when I put in my transfer papers. Not being stuck on base while visions of vampires dance in my head."  
"It's not as though Faith wanted this either." Daniel reminded Mitchell, gathering up his papers. "Maybe you should take the time to get to know her."  
"What's to know?" Mitchell asked, following Daniel out of the cafeteria. "I already know that all she thinks about is demons and how to kill them. And if you'd told me that we would be having an actual conversation about vampires a week ago..."

Faith blocked Teal'c's overhead swing with her staff and delivered a jab to his kidney before dancing back out of reach. She grinned at the massive Jaffa.  
"Having fun yet?" She asked, moving back in with a feint to the left and a thrust to the right.  
Teal'c blocked the thrust and countered with a blow to Faith's ribs that sent her back a pace or two. "Indeed." He said. "Although I suspect that you are still holding back."  
Mitchell arrived at the training room in time to see Faith let loose with a flurry of attacks that Teal'c was hard-pressed to keep at bay. As much as he didn't want to be, Cam was impressed and found himself imagining what it would be like to have Faith fighting by his side on off-world missions.  
Abruptly Faith stopped moving, just in time for Teal'c's staff to connect with the side of her head with a resounding crack.  
Even before Faith had hit the floor, Mitchell was moving for the telephone.  
"Med team to the Training Room." He told the operator, hanging up straight away and moving to the centre of the room where Teal'c was crouched over Faith's still form.  
"She is breathing still." Teal'c told Mitchell as he bent down to check on her.  
"It's my fault." Mitchell said, taking hold of one of Faith's hands. "She had a vision. That's why she stopped." For the first time, Cam was seeing the young Slayer defenceless and it shook him more than he wanted to admit. Even to himself.


	2. To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

Faith had only been unconscious for an hour now but Cam was driving Sam crazy. Every five minutes, his head would pop around her doorway and he'd ask if she knew anything yet. It wasn't like she wasn't trying! It was just difficult when she was interrupted every two minutes. Honestly, Cam was behaving worse than the time Jack had been convinced that she was hiding his Christmas present in her lab. And now Cam had talked General Landry into a briefing and she'd had to explain to everyone yet again that, no she still didn't know how the mind-melder, as Cam and Faith were calling it, worked or how to shut it off. At least Daniel didn't have a clue either.  
"...and so, although I've translated all the ancient symbols they still make no sense." Daniel concluded, sitting back down.  
General Landry nodded at him and turned to his daughter. "How is Faith?" He asked.  
Dr Lam stood up and motioned at a set of x-rays. "As you can see, the blow to the head caused her skull to fracture in three places. Internal bleeding has been light but steady and pressure is beginning to build up, here and here." She pointed to two areas of an MRI scan. "Faith herself has slipped into a mild coma and without surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain it's possible that she may never wake up. Even with surgery there is still a slight possibility that she may remain in a coma for the rest of her life."  
Cam felt a fresh wave of guilt slam into him.  
"Can't we call in some favours?" The young Colonel asked.  
General Landry looked at the other members of SG1 in turn before slowly nodding. "Leave it with me." He said. "You're dismissed."

Cam joined Sam, Teal'c and Daniel in the Control Room as the Off-World Activation klaxon sounded. He had just come from Faith's room where the unconscious slayer was being prepped for surgery and he focussed on the opening wormhole in an attempt to take his mind off her upcoming ordeal.  
"We're receiving a Tok'ra IDC, Sir." Sergeant Harriman announced.  
General Landry nodded and Cam noticed that he didn't seem surprised. Obviously this was one of the favours the General had called in.  
"Open the iris." General Landry ordered and with the soft whisper of fine-grade metal on metal, the iris retracted, just in time for a lone figure to step through.  
Beside him, he heard Daniel faintly groan and Sam huff out a breath of air. Even the normally impassive Teal'c looked mildly irritated.  
"Who is it?" He asked, as General Landry made his way down to greet the SGC's newest visitor, SG1 trailing in his wake.  
"Anise." Sam informed him, rolling her eyes ever so slightly.  
So this was Anise, Cam mused as they stepped into the Embarkation Room. Funny, from General O'Neill's description of the Tok'ra scientist and the mission reports he'd been expecting someone much older and steelier looking. He stepped forward to be introduced and Anise brandished some sort of device in his face.  
"Interesting energy readings." The Tok'ra scientist noted. "Where is the other person you mentioned? The one that this one is linked to."  
Cam tried not to be offended by her lack of manners as General Landry explained that Faith was about to undergo surgery.

Dr Lam was in the final stages of prepping her patient for surgery when in trooped SG1 and a slim brunette a couple of inches taller than Caroline herself.  
As she was crossing the floor to ask them to leave, the strange woman stepped past her to Faith's bed and activated a ribbon device over the helpless Slayer.  
"What are you doing?" Dr Lam cried as she raced to her patient's bedside.  
"I am using a Goa'uld healing device to repair the damage done to this woman without the need for the barbaric custom you call surgery."  
"Well it's not working." Dr Lam informed Anise, checking the monitor Faith was hooked up to. "And that barbaric custom may be the only thing that can save her."  
"Are you certain that it is not working? Her condition is not serious enough to be a consideration. Perhaps your equipment simply cannot detect it." Anise said, whipping out her diagnostic monitor with her other hand and scanning Faith.  
SG1 could only watch bemusedly as their doctor went toe to toe with Anise over Faith's bed.  
"I assure that all of our equipment is at the forefront of modern technology and that as Chief Medical Officer to this base I would be able to detect if one of my patients was recovering!" Dr Lam bit out, staring directly at the interloper in her territory.  
Anise had shut off the healing device and was now shaking the diagnostic tool in her left hand in confusion. Abruptly she turned back to SG1, who merely stared back at her.  
"Show me the device you claim has had this effect." Anise demanded.  
Speechless, Sam showed Anise out of the infirmary, leaving the boys to explain everything to an icily angry Doctor Lam.

There was a light. It shone so brightly that it hurt her eyes and they were already closed. She wanted the light to go away. She wasn't ready to die yet. Somehow she knew that she wouldn't get the same chances that Buffy had. It would be a one-way trip for the baddest Slayer of them all. Oh, why wouldn't that light go away?  
There were voices around her, sharp sounds that faded in and out at the edges of her hearing, leaving her unable to make out a word. Two people, they were arguing, over her. One of them felt wrong... that was the one causing the light. It hurt her eyes and gave her pins and needles everywhere.  
And then the light was gone and all was dark and warm and still. She was almost ready.

Cam was in Sam's lab having a myriad of tests run on him by Anise. He could definitely see why the Tok'ra scientist was so disliked. Her cold demeanour and bitchy manners made her an abrasive personality. And that annoying habit she had of allowing Freya to take control to smooth her path stank of cowardice.  
_He was lying on a cold table. They were operating on him and he couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't make them stop.  
_Cam shot out of his seat with a yell.  
"She's awake!"  
Sam was only a few steps behind him as she raced for the door while Anise remained in the lab, staring at the energy spike that had just shown up on her instruments.

Faith had regained consciousness just as they were wheeling her into the operating room. For a moment, sheer terror had held sway as she imagined all kinds of terrible things. Fortunately, Doctor Lam had noticed that Faith's eyes were following her around the room, filled with an unspoken horror, and had delayed the operation to take the tracheal tube out.  
"Faith?" she asked, shining a penlight into each of her eyes.  
"Five by five." The dark Slayer croaked and was wheeled back into the infirmary just as Cam and Sam entered at a dead run.  
Cam skidded to a halt when he saw Doctor Lam wheeling a very much conscious Faith out of the operating theatre.  
"Faith, how are you?" asked Sam, from beside him.  
Faith grimaced. "I could do with some water." She wheezed, her throat still sore from the tubing.  
Doctor Lam nodded her consent and Cam picked up a jug.  
"What happened?" Faith asked, her voice beginning to clear.  
_She was watching herself fight Teal'c. She was winning and then she stopped dead, her eyes focussing into the middle distance just as Teal'c's staff came crashing into the side of her head and she crumpled to the floor.  
_"Jesus, Flyboy!" Faith groused, accepting the glass of water in front of her. "Can't you keep it in your pants for five minutes while a girl recovers?" She sipped the water, turning to Doctor Lam. "So, Doc, how long was I out?"  
Caroline looked up from Faith's chart. "You've been in a coma for almost a day now. We weren't sure you'd ever wake up."  
Faith grinned at the young Doctor. "Not the first time that's been said about me. Besides, it takes more than a knock on the head to keep a Slayer down. I'm guessing that you still haven't worked out how the Mind-melder works." She said to Sam.  
Sam shook her head. "One of our Allies has sent a scientist to help us figure it out."  
"Great!" Faith said, throwing the covers back. "Let's go!"  
Doctor Lam shook her head, gently pressing Faith back down onto the bed. "We've got a few tests to run before I can discharge you." She said firmly. "Could one of you inform General Landry that Faith is awake?" She asked the two Colonels before donning her stethoscope and asking Faith to take a deep breath.  
Sam and Cam smiled at Faith before ducking out of the room and away from the still slightly cranky Doctor.  
Faith scowled but stayed where she was. Somehow she got the feeling that crossing the Doc would only lead to bad things at some future date.

Anise was hunched over the strange device that the Tau'ri had discovered when Colonel Carter arrived back at the lab. The Colonel - and why they placed such significance on a name which continually changed was beyond her - hesitated in the entrance to the room before joining her by the device. Anise noticed that Colonel Mitchell hadn't returned to complete the tests she was running. Vaguely irritated, she asked Colonel Carter where the man was.  
"He's gone to inform the General that Faith's awake." Colonel Carter informed her, not looking up from the screen she was hunched over.  
"Then the surgery was a success?" Anise was surprised; perhaps the Tau'ri knew more than she had given them credit for, as Selmak had always insisted.  
Colonel Carter shook her head, glancing once more at the monitor before standing. "Actually, Faith woke up on her own." The woman said, moving towards the equipment Anise had set up.  
Normally Anise would have told her to leave the delicate instruments alone but her mind was considering other things just then.  
"Then the healing device did work?" She asked.  
Sam hesitated. While there was no doubt in her mind that the healing device had not in fact worked, she was loath to reveal Faith's Slayer status and subsequent abilities to Anise.  
"Doctor Lam's not sure." She lied. "She's running some tests now."  
Anise frowned, knowing full well that the device had not worked. Perhaps this Faith's immunity was being caused by the unusual object the Tau'ri had found.  
"There have been two energy spikes from the device since I began monitoring it. " She said carefully. "The first corresponded with a spike in the energy that Colonel Mitchell was emitting but he was not present during the second."  
Colonel Carter nodded, checking some of the instruments Anise had so carefully laid out.  
"We noticed the same phenomena whenever Faith or Colonel Mitchell received a vision. Now that Faith's regained consciousness we should be seeing a lot more of them." The Tau'ri scientist told Anise.  
Anise nodded automatically, her mind working quickly. If the device was causing an immunity then it could easily become a tool that the Tok'ra could use in their war against the Goa'uld. Such a possibility certainly merited further investigation.  
"I will assist Doctor Lam." Anise announced, picking up her diagnostic monitor and leaving the room before Colonel Carter could object.

Faith was heading for the elevators, cigarettes in one hand and Zippo in the other. She was back in her leathers, not in a coma and there was only one vampire jack-hammering inside her head now. All in all she was feeling pretty good about life until she saw Flyboy headed in her direction.  
Cam smiled at Faith as the distance between them narrowed and was rewarded with a slight twist at the corners of her lips. He couldn't blame her; he'd be pretty pissed if someone put him in a coma.  
It wasn't that she didn't like him, Faith decided. But the visions came quick when they were close to each other and he was the reason, however indirectly, for her recent coma. Oh shit, he'd stopped a few paces in front of her and obviously wanted to talk.  
"Hi," Cam said, hating the fact that he wasn't sure what to say to her. "How're you feeling?"  
Faith stared up into the deep blue of his eyes. They were the exact same shade as the walls in the bedroom Linda had given her.  
"Doc says I'm five by five." She told him huskily with a slight smile.  
"About what happened," Cam said, fingering the peace offering in his pocket. "I just wanted to say-"  
"Forget about it." Faith cut him off with a shrug. "Not your fault. 'Sides it's not like it's the first time I've been in a coma."  
_A blonde girl in red leather trousers and a black top plunged a knife into his abdomen. She stared blankly at it, letting go and leaving it lodged in there.  
"You did it." He said, throwing her away from him. "You killed me." He clambered on top of a low wall at the edge of the roof they were standing on, looking down at the street below.  
"It still won't save your boy though." He told the blonde. "Shoulda been there B, quite a ride."  
He fell backwards off the wall into space and landed in darkness.  
_She hated it when his eyes went blank. It meant that he knew what he'd done. Faith was tempted to just edge away when she heard her name being called by someone she didn't know.  
"Faith, Colonel Mitchell." Anise hailed as she saw them standing together in the tunnel.  
Cam came back to himself in time to see Anise head straight for them. He groaned slightly and felt Faith stare curiously at him.  
"Faith, meet Anise. Anise, Faith." He introduced as Anise joined them. "Anise is a Tok'ra scientist and she came to see if she could help us with the Mind-melder." He explained to Faith.  
"Wicked." Faith said, turning to the woman. "How's it goin'?"  
Anise smiled at the woman despite the fact that she wasn't entirely sure what had just been said to her. "My preliminary studies have shown some interesting results. I was wondering if I could convince the two of you to consent to further tests."  
Faith cast a longing look at the elevators. "How long is this gonna take?" She asked, wondering if she could duck out for a cigarette first.  
He didn't trust Anise when she smiled like that, Cam decided. He really wanted Sam and possibly Doctor Lam to be present when she ran those tests she was talking about.  
"Not long at all." Anise said. "In fact we could do them right now."  
Faith glanced at Colonel Mitchell. He seemed cool with it so she figured, why not. And then she could get outside into relative freedom and they'd be one step closer to figuring out the Mind-melder.  
"Sure," Faith said "Why not?"  
There was a weird electronic chirruping noise and Anise brought a weird s-shaped device up and pointed it at Faith. A bolt of blue light flew out of the device and hit Faith. Pins and needles erupted all over her body and she seemed to see Anise shoot Colonel Mitchell from very far away. Faith's vision snapped back into focus as Mitchell hit the deck and she stepped towards the woman, already drawing her fist back for a wicked punch. Another bolt of light hit her in the chest and she staggered, feeling oddly weak, but managed to follow through and deliver a bruising uppercut that sent Anise to join Flyboy on the floor. Abruptly, her knees gave way and she slumped to the floor, feeling drained. God, she needed a cigarette.  
The sound of running footsteps brought her to her feet in one easy move. She clenched her fists, ready for whatever this place threw at her next. Two hands seized her shoulders and spun her round. With the greatest of efforts she focussed and found herself staring into Daniel's blue eyes.  
"Are you okay?" He was asking her.  
Faith nodded, glancing over at Teal'c as he checked to see if Mitchell was okay.  
"We need to get you to the infirmary." Daniel decided.

After yet another clean bill of health, Faith had been escorted back to her quarters and told in no uncertain terms to stay put. The goons posted outside of her door wouldn't tell her anything and she had no clue as to what was going on.  
She hadn't had a vision yet. That was bad. Okay, normally it would be good but given the fact that she knew nothing about what was going on she'd have appreciated a little inside info. Or even one of Grandma's bible-thumping lectures just so she knew Flyboy was alright.  
Oh, fuck, this was all her fault. She was the one who said okay to the tests. But how was she supposed to know that the crazy woman would shoot them. And what the hell had she shot them with? Teal'c had said the name of the weapon. Or at least she thought he had. He could have just sneezed. It had sounded like a sneeze. But when had she ever heard Teal'c sneeze?  
God, this was so fucking messed up! It was supposed to be a quick delivery job. In and out in under three hours. Instead she'd been here three days, gotten herself psychically welded to a guy, been knocked into another coma and had been shot with little balls of blue light. What the fuck kind of place was this?! Yeah, okay, she'd known about aliens and the Stargate going in, that's why she'd been chosen and not one of the newbies. But this shit was fucked up!

Anise winced as Doctor Lam angled her head to get a better look at the massive purple bruise on her jaw.  
"You'll live." The good Doctor proclaimed, dusting her hands together and stepping back.  
She nodded at the two guards who had been Anise's constant companions since she first awoke.  
"General Landry would like to see her now." Doctor Lam told the two airmen who snapped to attention and escorted Anise from the infirmary.  
"Good riddance to bad rubbish." Caroline muttered to herself as she crossed the floor to check on Colonel Mitchell's vital signs once again.  
They were steadily improving which meant that he would be waking up fairly soon. And then the infirmary would be empty until the next emergency.

General Landry gazed steadily at the silent Tok'ra in front of him. Anise glared stonily back.  
"In the light of your recent conduct," the General informed Anise, "I have no option but to ask you to leave the SGC."  
Anise opened her mouth to object but quickly closed it again as white-hot pain flared along her jaw line. How dare he? The Tau'ri had requested her help, not the other way around. And then when she was assaulted in their facility, they had the effrontery to throw her out. She hadn't even completed her tests yet.  
"Arrangements are in place for you to travel to the planet of your choice." The General continued as though he hadn't even noticed her discomfort.  
What had that Faith woman hit her with anyway? She hadn't had anything substantial in her hands, but no human could hit that hard. And just how had she survived the second shot from the Zatn'kitel? Judging from Colonel Mitchell's reaction she should have been unconscious after the first shot. It definitely wasn't a side effect of this ridiculous piece of technology they were struggling with; she'd proved that much at least.  
Were the Tau'ri following the Goa'uld example and attempting to create a hok'taur?  
Anything was possible with these barbarians. Something she really should have remembered before she had consented to come.  
The General cleared his throat and Anise realised that he was waiting for her to leave. Gathering her dignity around her like a cloak, she gracefully stood and allowed the men to escort her from the room.

Faith whirled round at the knock on the door, her heart suddenly racing.  
"Yeah?" She called, flopping into a chair and picking up her knife.  
Daniel stepped into the room to see Faith idly cleaning her fingernails with the knife that the Airmen still hadn't managed to confiscate.  
"Hey." He said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "How's it going?"  
Faith was very clearly engrossed in thoroughly cleaning her fingernails with her knife. "You tell me." She said nonchalantly.  
"Well, Well, Doctor Lam says Mitchell'll be waking up anytime now, General Landry kicked Anise out and I came to see if you wanted to go for a cigarette." Daniel told her.  
Faith's knife vanished.

"So, what do you think of the SGC?" Daniel asked as Faith lit her cigarette.  
"It's cool." Faith said. "I'm going a little crazy with all the walls." She held the cigarette up. "I was down to one a day before I came here."  
Daniel was shocked, remembering the chain-smoking Faith of two years ago. "Well done." He murmured.  
"I just need to do something!" Faith continued. "I'm not much of a sit around and twiddle my thumbs kinda girl."  
"It's a shame you didn't arrive earlier." Daniel said. "You'd have got on well with Vala and it would have given her something to do as well."  
"Who's Vala?" Faith asked, curious.  
"She was once host to a Goa'uld called Qetesh. The Tok'ra removed Qetesh and Vala became a thief and a liar, impersonating Qetesh for personal gain."  
"Gee thanks Danny." Faith said with a grimace.  
"She had her good points too." Daniel said.  
"Had?"  
"She sacrificed herself to prevent an army from invading the galaxy. Sam says there's still a chance that she could be alive..."  
_She watched herself just stand there as Anise brought the snake gun up and shot her.  
She lay comatose in a hospital gown, tucked into a bed in the infirmary as machines beeped and hissed around her.  
_"Colonel Mitchell's awake." Faith told Daniel, taking another drag on her cigarette.  
"Vision?" Daniel asked, his eyes fixed on the far distance.  
Faith nodded and there was a moment of silence.  
The moment was shattered by a klaxon. As one they turned around to see the blast doors fifty feet down the tunnel slowly start to swing closed.  
"Shit!" Faith exclaimed, already in motion.  
Behind her she could hear Daniel falling further and further behind but everything she had was focussed on reaching that door before it shut. It was millimetres from closing when she managed to curl her fingertips around the edge. She pulled back and the door stopped moving. Bracing herself, Faith heaved with all of her might as Daniel ran up behind her. Her fingers slipped and the door slid shut.  
Faith stared at it in disgust.  
"Fuck!"

**Author's Note:**

Many thanks to Cylon One for the corrections. I'm British though so focussed is (for me) spelt correctly. Thank you!


	3. The Dangers of Dreaming

With a swish of the privacy curtain, Cam stepped out into the infirmary proper. Just moments earlier, he had been changing out of his hospital gown when an alarm had sounded only to be shut off within seconds. Now that he was dressed, he could find out what was going on.  
With a nod to Dr Lam as she bent over a helpless member of SG-7, Cam strode out of the infirmary and into the corridor just as a group of slimy tentacled creatures squished around the corner. The aliens spotted Cam a second later than he spotted them, bringing their weapons to bear and firing upon him just as he dove back through the door to the infirmary.  
Rolling to his feet, Cam shut and locked the door, striding over to the telephone situated in every room on the base.  
Bemused, Dr Lam crossed the floor, just in time to see one of the aliens peer through the door window. She leapt back with an involuntary cry and backed away.  
Cam, unable to raise anyone on the phone, dialled topside and reported a foothold situation, ordering a lockdown. Fending off Dr Lam's questions, he concentrated on one thing. 

"What the fuck is going on?" Faith asked, contemplating kicking the door, even though she knew how much it would hurt. That was a solid steel door, reinforced and locked. Even Slayer strength wasn't getting her through that thing.  
"It's a lockdown." Daniel replied, panting slightly as he too stared at the door.  
Faith turned to look at him and kept looking, waiting for him to elaborate in his vaguely watcherish manner.  
"It could mean a number of things." Daniel said.  
Faith scowled at him. "What does it usually mean?" She demanded.  
Daniel shrugged. "It's usually a Foothold situation."  
Faith stared blankly at the archaeologist. God, she hated military terminology. It gave you just enough information to panic while staying vague enough to make sure you were kept out of the loop.  
"Aliens have overtaken the SGC." Daniel elaborated.  
Faith opened her mouth and then-  
_The command centre; her quarters; Sam's lab; Daniel's office; Teal'c's room; the cafeteria: all empty.  
Her, standing alone._  
"Is there a back door to this place?" Faith asked, walking away from the locked door.

_He and Daniel were outside; he took a drag on the cigarette in his perfectly manicured hand as a klaxon sounded. He was running towards the closing blast door but he wasn't gonna get there quick enough. His fingers closed around the last edge of the blast door and he pulled back with all his strength but the door slipped from his grasp breaking two of his nails in the process.  
He and Daniel tiptoed with exaggerated care through a pleasant backyard lit by a crescent moon. Stealthily they approached the back door of the house and he silently opened it so they could both creep inside the base.  
The command centre; his office; Sam's lab; Daniel's office; Teal'c's room; the mess: all empty.  
He grinned cockily.  
A succession of monsters paraded in front of him, ending with a creepy, disfigured, pale and bald creature with claws longer than it's fangs who snarled and swiped at him with those same blood-soaked talons._  
Caroline watched Colonel Mitchell take an involuntary step backwards as the vision he was currently experiencing ended.  
For the moment the aliens in the hallway had stopped banging on the door and were silent, giving the SGC CMO and Second in Command a chance to plan their next move.

Teal's first intimation that something might be wrong at the SGC was when the door to his quarters burst open and an alien of unknown origin squelched inside. Teal'c was already on the other side of the room when the yellow ball of light the unknown weapon the alien was carrying fired impacted into the wall behind where he had been stood. Before the alien could turn the weapon on Teal'c again he was in front of it with a savage blow to the head. Teal's fist sank deep into the slimy tentacles growing from the creature's face without connecting with anything and the alien squealed shrilly and dropped its weapon. Again, Teal's was there before the alien could recover, picking it up by the tentacles and throwing it across the room before picking up the weapon and firing a round into the alien's head.  
It didn't move after that so Teal'c reasoned that it would be prudent to discover exactly what was going on.

Shortly after the Gateroom had been taken it began to fill again as the aliens herded their prisoners inside. Upon arrival, Sam immediately made her way to General Landry as he stood to one side, Sergeant Harriman beside him.  
"Colonel Carter." General Landry acknowledged her as she came close.  
"Sir, I was on my way to the Control Room to investigate the cause of the alarm when I was captured by two of the aliens." Sam reported.  
General Landry nodded. "They came through hot on the back of SG-5." He explained. "We didn't have time to close the iris and the Gateroom and Control Room were quickly overrun. I want you to try to manually dial the gate so we can try to get a message through to the Alpha Site."  
Sam nodded her agreement and headed towards the Stargate, collecting Sergeant Siler along the way.

_The Stargate; open and rippling in front of her.  
Eight large aliens, complete with tentacles, were running down a SGC corridor.  
Flyboy; standing in the Armoury and grinning at her, dead aliens scattered around him._  
Faith stared down at the long ladder, descending deep into the ground and swore.  
Daniel, his leg already swung over the side, looked up.  
"Gimme a second." Faith told him.

_Faith and Daniel were climbing down the access shaft when Faith's eyes glazed over with a vision. She slipped and fell.  
Faith was playing with her dagger, a dangerous glint in her eye.  
A twenty minute countdown began.  
_It was a good job Teal'c had come round the corner when he did, Cam mused as he came out of his vision to the sight of two (presumably) dead aliens. He'd been holding his own until the vision hit.  
"Where is Slayer Faith?" Teal'c rumbled, staring down at Cam.  
Quickly, Cam explained and asked Teal'c if he knew what had happened.  
"I do not." Teal'c replied, peering around a corner to see if it was clear.  
Cam shrugged. "I was heading to the Armoury to get some weapons." He explained.  
Teal'c reached down and snagged a weapon from a dead alien.  
"Plan." Cam conceded, setting his watch to notify him when twenty minutes had passed and taking the weapon. "Control Room?"  
"Indeed."

Caroline watched as her last patient was settled into place in the busy Gateroom. Taking a moment to assess her surroundings she noticed her father standing close by, the ever-present Sergeant Harriman standing a short distance away.  
"Are you alright?" He asked her.  
"I'm fine Dad." Caroline sighed.  
Hank shifted slightly under his daughter's clear gaze. "Colonel Carter is working on a way to manually dial the gate so we can evacuate if necessary." He told her.  
Caroline nodded. "Colonel Mitchell is headed to the Armoury." She informed him. "He ordered a Lockdown. Unfortunately Faith and Daniel were outside so they're on their way down the access hatch."  
She had finally spotted Colonel Carter as she worked on the Stargate and Caroline frowned as she noticed what was happening.  
"Dad." She said, pointing discretely.  
General Landry swung round in time to see the two aliens close in on Colonel Carter.  
Sam felt the cold and damp hand land on her shoulder and ceased work immediately, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet and swung round. Without a word, the two aliens pulled her out of the Gateroom.

Cam and Teal'c were two hallways from the Control Room when eight aliens appeared at the other end of the corridor. They separated to cover on two different sides of the hallway and watched as the aliens showed every intention of taking another route and missing them. The alarm on Cam's watch went off.  
The aliens swung round and began blindly firing down the hallway. Cam hurriedly switched the alarm off and glanced over at an impassive Teal'c. As one, the two men swung into action, returning fire with a vengeance.

The hatchway swung silently open and Daniel poked his head through the opening to see an empty corridor. Quickly, he climbed through, Faith hot on his heads and eager to be out of the tunnel and into the fight. She was slightly disappointed to see a deserted hallway but wasted no time in sending a vision to Cam to ask him where the action could be found.

Sam stood in the centre of the Briefing Room as what appeared to be the leader of the aliens prowled round her, tentacles waving. God she hated this part. Daniel or Jack were so much better at it than she was.  
Daniel would be trying to communicate with the aliens and work out some common points of interest and possibly a peace treaty and Jack wouldn't care is the creature could understand him or not, he'd be making snarky comments and getting himself hit in the knees.  
A tentacle reached out to glide gloopily down her arm and Sam cracked.  
"Hey!" She exclaimed loudly, slapping the tentacle away.  
The alien shrilled loudly and turned to two of its goons gesturing to first Sam and then the door as it squealed, tentacles still shifting wildly.  
Sam sighed as her two guards stepped forward and hoped that she was headed back to the Gateroom.

_Teal'c and Flyboy were facing off against a bunch of aliens when a vision hit Cam and the aliens overpowered Teal'c.  
Cam and Teal'c were shoved into a crowded Gateroom._  
Daniel watched Faith's eyes clear as her vision faded and the dark Slayer turned and punched a metal door with a loud 'Fuck!' Staring at the dent in the solid door, Daniel asked what had happened.  
"Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c were captured when I sent Colonel Mitchell my last vision." Faith explained. "Everyone's being held in the Gateroom."  
Daniel noticed how careful Faith was about using Cam's full name but decided not to mention it. "We need weapons." He said instead. "Are Sam and General Landry in the Gateroom as well?"  
"I'll ask." Faith said as she pulled out her dagger and hugged the wall down the hallway.

Sam was being taken towards one of the storage rooms she noticed as she was marched along the hallways of the SGC. She and her guards rounded a corner and a dark blur hit one of her guards from the side.  
Sam wasn't idle as Faith tackled one of the aliens, she shoved the other one against the wall to prevent it from firing on Faith as the lithe Slayer grabbed the first alien's head with one hand and sliced easily through it's throat with her dagger, tentacles flying everywhere in the process. The alien slumped to the ground, blue goo gushing from its neck as Faith lunged forward to bury her dagger in the other alien's heart. Although the alien's breathe began to gurgle and blue flecks of goo appeared on its lips, nothing much more happened to it as Faith danced back on the balls of her feet.  
"No heart." The Slayer noted to herself, dodging a bolt of yellow light from the alien's weapon.  
Sam reached down and picked up the dead alien's weapon, fumbling with the unfamiliar trigger mechanism for a moment before she looked up just in time to see Faith's eyes glaze over with the familiar signs of a vision. Daniel tackled the brunette Slayer to the ground as the alien fired on Faith a second before Sam returned fire on the alien, killing it.  
Daniel picked himself up off the floor.  
"Hey." He said to Sam, dragging Faith out of the puddle of goo and propping the insensible Slayer against the wall of the hallway for a moment. "How's it going?"  
"Not too bad." Sam considered the situation. "They followed SG5 through the gate and they're holding everyone in the Gateroom at the moment."  
"We know." Daniel said. "Cam ordered a lockdown but he and Teal'c were captured a while ago."  
Faith blinked and looked around her. "Colonel Mitchell says that General Landry and Doctor Lam are in the Gateroom but that Sam was dragged off by aliens before he and Teal'c got there." She said, picking herself up off the floor and trying to brush the alien goo off her favourite leather pants.  
"We need a plan." Sam said.

_Sam, Daniel and Faith stood in a hallway with two dead aliens at their feet.  
The trio were sat in the Secondary Command Bunker. Monitors filled with images of aliens walking the SGC filled the wall behind them._

"Sam's safe." Cam told General Landry. "She, Daniel and Faith are on their way to the Monitoring Station on Level 16."  
General Landry looked around the Gateroom crowded with his personnel, his mouth a grim line. "Good." He said. "Do they have a plan?"  
Stuck for an answer, Cam could only stare at the General.  
"I believe that is their plan." Teal'c intoned from behind him.

_Cam and Teal'c stood in the centre of a Gateroom filled with faceless people. The number of guards multiplied and multiplied. _

Cam stood in the corner of the Gateroom, tucked behind the Stargate. Around him were stood Teal'c, the Doc, General Landry and that weird military guy who followed the General around like a lost puppy. Behind them, a guy with sandy hair was doing something to the gate. Beyond just about everyone belonging to the SGC was milling around. Two guards stood at each of the blast doors in the Gateroom. None of the prisoners were armed.  
On the surface a dark haired man with muddy green eyes stood in an immaculate Air Force uniform giving orders to a scurrying group of lackeys.

A clock was counting down thirty minutes.  
Sam was climbing up the access shaft. She reached the top and walked over to join Major Davis.  
Daniel and Faith were loading up with weapons in the armoury, the slain bodies of aliens around them.  
The SGC was once more operating as usual.  
SG1 and Faith sat at a bar, drinking.  
Faith spat on her hand and held it out.

Cam set his watch for thirty minutes sat down and started twiddling his thumbs.  
Cam, Faith, Daniel, Teal'c and Sam sat in a bar, their drinks in front of them. For some reason, Faith's was a margarita.  
Cam spat on his hand and shook Faith's.  
  
"Five minutes." Daniel said, glancing at his watch.  
Faith nodded, discretely watching the pair of guards approaching their intersection. "You got everything?" She asked.  
"I think so." Daniel said, patting various places on his body.  
Faith looked on in horror as one of the aliens quivered and blurred around the middle before separately straight down the middle and dividing itself. Tentacles writhed uncontrollably in all directions for a second and then resolved themselves into two separate and whole aliens.  
"Oh, gross!" She whispered. A thought struck. "Do we have any Head & Shoulders?"  
"Er..." Daniel floundered.  
"Never mind." Faith moved away from the intersection with a grin and pushed Daniel into view of the aliens before taking off in the opposite direction. It was time to get to the Control Room. 

Daniel smiled nervously at the startled aliens, his hands held palms open and away from his body.  
"Hi." He said. "I'm Daniel."

Two minutes to go, Cam noticed as a stir around one of the blast doors had him turning round to see what was happening. To his surprise he saw Daniel, pushing his way through the crowd. Frowning, Cam walked around the Stargate to meet him.  
"What the hell is going on?" He asked.  
Daniel grinned as he reached behind the baggy military jacket he was wearing and pulled out one of the alien's weapons.  
"It's all part of the plan." Daniel said, pulling more weapons out of obscure places and passing them around the captive marines. The alien weapon he gave to Cam.  
"Present from Faith," Daniel told Cam with a grin.  
Cam's watch began beeping and all the lights went out.

**Author's Note:**

Sadly, _Evolution_ is in no way mine. Which is a shame as I could do with the money. I don't make any from this story you know.

Honest.


	4. Dreaming of a Difference

The second the lights went out Faith launched herself what seemed to be the leader of the aliens. As she reached him a burst of light erupted in the Gateroom below, briefly illuminating the Control Room.  
With one fluid movement, Faith sliced through it's neck tentacles and the alien dropped to the floor without a sound. The fight was on.

Cam took careful aim at one of the aliens guarding the Gateroom through the thermal scope someone had kindly fitted to his gun and fired. He watched through the scope as it died and turned his attention to the next. Teal'c had that one well in hand so he focussed on the rest of the room. Scanning, he came across a pile of marines by one of the access doors. A tentacle writhed out from underneath them and Cam turned his scope to the Control Room. Flashes of light blinded him and he put the gun down to get a better look.

Faith ran up the console in front of her, flipping a somersault in midair and landing directly behind the alien pursuing her. She squeezed the trigger of the alien weapon she held, splattering alien goo all over the window. She was already aiming the gun at a new target as she crouched low to avoid a shot loosed by another of the aliens, fired and rolled. A bolt of light impacted just where she had been a moment ago as she stood up in front of the last alien, pushing it's weapon up towards the ceiling. The room was briefly lit by light as a shot was fired into the ceiling but the alien was already dead by then.  
Wiping her dagger on her pants, Faith grabbed the radio from the small of her back.  
"Yo, Sam. Everything down here's five by five. Let there be light!"  
As if in answer to a prayer there was a faint background whine and the SGC generators came back online.

General Landry was first out of the Gateroom, a thunderous expression on his face. He was closely followed by a goo-splattered Teal'c, Daniel, Cam, the Doc and the ever present Sergeant Harriman. The rest of the base gradually filed out behind them, blinking as their eyes gradually readjusted to the lights.  
"Debriefing in fifteen minutes." General Landry snapped as he passed Faith.  
"Medical exam now." The Doc said, an evil glint in her eyes.

Several hours and showers later Cam knocked on Faith's door. A denim clad Faith swung the door open and grinned at him.  
"Bar?" She asked.  
"Sam, Teal'c and Daniel already went on ahead. General Landry just gave us the okay to go off base." Cam nodded.  
"Wicked!" Faith exclaimed grabbing a denim jacket, motorbike helmet and what was obviously a stake.  
Even though Cam knew that vampires were real, he still couldn't stop himself from doing a double take at the sight of the small piece of wood.  
Faith sighed as she caught his movement out of the corner of her eye. "Have you ever seen a vampire?" She asked, closing her door behind her.  
Cam shook his head.  
"D'ya wanna?" Faith asked, thinking that she should probably patrol some of the cemetaries while she was in the area.

Teal'c noted the time on the clock behind the bar. Slayer Faith and Colonel Mitchell were late. General Landry had just arrived and was buying a round of drinks. The bar was packed with SGC staff and it looked like it was going to become a memorable night.

Cam watched in awe as Faith staked the vampire that had just clawed its way out of its grave and turned to greet another that was making its way towards them. With nothing to do but watch, he stuffed his hands into his pockets to ward off the chill of the night. His hand brushed against the peace offering he'd bought Faith that was still in his pocket and he realised with a shock that although they had been in the open for a good two hours now, Faith had yet to light a single cigarette.  
Seeing her against Teal'c was one thing but watching her in action as she fought her natural enemy was another. It was obvious now, in a way that it hadn't been at the time that Faith had been holding back during her bout with Teal'c whereas she was in all seriousness now. So much of her personality could be seen in the way that Faith fought, her stubbornness, her no nonsense manner of cutting straight through bullshit and the deadly grace that characterised her every move.  
Faith dusted the last vampire and bounded over to him.  
"All done." She announced.  
"Ready to get a drink?" Cam asked, heading back to where Faith had parked her bike.  
"Hell yeah!" Faith nodded. "Do they serve food?"

Most of the SGC were still at the bar when they arrived and so were treated to the sight of a giggling Faith being ushered into the bar by a grinning Colonel Mitchell.  
It looked as though the pair were finally warming to each other and money frantically changed hands as bets were settled and new ones made.  
Faith and Cam however were oblivious, Faith sitting down between Sam and Daniel while Cam went to get a round of drinks in.  
They were, surprise, surprise, talking about the Mind-Melder. To be honest, Faith was now at the point where she was seriously considering hurling the freaking thing at a wall just to make the visions stop, no matter how useful they had been earlier. The smashing of glass at the bar pulled her from her train of thought. Damn, Cam saw that.  
See, that was her whole point. No matter how useful the visions could be they always had that downside. Cam had been captured earlier because of one of her visions. She was always zoning out of conversations and finding that it had moved on when she came back to herself. And it was getting harder and harder to keep certain thoughts at bay.  
She looked up as her drink was placed in front of her.  
"I can't believe you bought me a margarita." She told Cam, picking the drink up and taking a sip.  
"You were getting a whiskey until I dropped it." Cam grinned, drinking his own bottle of Coors Light. "Besides, you've got a drink from just about everyone behind the bar."  
"Oh, really?" Faith asked, intrigued.

Cam staggered slightly as he stumbled towards his bed. It was late, he had to be up early and he was drunk.  
Not as drunk as Faith though. She had put away every drink waiting for her behind the bar and a few more. He had poured her, muttering something about the two H's of Slaying, into a car from the base shortly before catching a taxi to his apartment.  
It had been a good night. They had saved the world, slayed some vampires (wooden pencils were the ultimate stealth weapon!) and partied.  
Cam plummeted, fully clothed, onto his bed and fell asleep.

Her eyelids were glued together. Something had crawled into her mouth and died. Evil demons had taken possession of her head and were having a party. Faith was definitely suffering from a hangover. Not surprising considering the amount she'd had to drink last night.  
A vague memory of offering to show Cam the two H's of Slaying as he shut a car door behind her surfaced to run naked and embarrassed through her head. Faith groaned.  
Coffee. She needed coffee. All she had to do to get it was open her eyes, crawl out of bed, possibly get dressed and stumble down two hallways to Daniel's office where a permanent pot percolated.  
Faith cracked an eyelid and light attacked her brain.  
She moaned and hastily screwed her eye shut again. Slayer healing wasn't even touching this hangover._  
Daniel cavorted around the mens locker room dressed in a wicked cool leather outfit Faith would kill to get her hands on._  
What the fuck was Cam on about?  
Braving the light, Faith rolled out of bed to go find out.

"We didn't think we were ever going to make this work." Sam said as she rushed into her lab and began tapping at the keyboard of one of her computers.  
"Make what work?" Cam asked, following Vala into the room.  
"Well, since you disintegrated the Alterran communication stones and the base terminal in the Kawoosh, we've be-" Sam started  
"I'm sorry, the what?" Cam interrupted, unable to believe his ears.  
"The unstable vortex of a forming wormhole." Sam explained. "Kawoosh."  
Cam frowned, "Don't think I've ever heard you call it that before..."  
"Really?" Sam asked, confused. Surely she'd used it in conversation only the other day.  
Beside them Vala quivered with impatience.  
"Don't get me wrong, it's good."  
"No- I mean I'm sure I've-"  
"Hello... hi. Uhm... My name is Vala but I am in Daniel Jackson right now." Vala interrupted pointing at herself to refocus their attention.  
"Woah, I came in at the wrong time," Faith said from the doorway.  
Vala scowled at the newcomer, crossing her arms above her pregnant stomach. "Oh, I see you had no trouble replacing me."  
Faith stared carefully at Daniel as she moved into the room. "You feelin' okay, Danny Boy?" She asked, handing Cam the second cup of coffee she held.  
"Faith, this is Vala Mal Doran. Vala this is Faith. Vala's using a subspace communication device to hijack Daniel's body and drop by for a chat. Faith's a Vampire Slayer and is a guest at the SGC until we can get some issues resolved." Cam introduced. Vala stared at him until he elaborated. "It's a long story."  
"We're currently sharing headspace." Faith explained, with a jerk of her head at Cam. "So you're the famous Vala. Gotta say, wasn't expecting you to look like Daniel."  
Vala grimaced. "Neither was I. Famous you say?"  
"Anyway," Sam interrupted, trying to get the conversation back on track. "We've been working on a way of artificially emulating the Alterran technology... Dr Lee was able to collect quite a bit of data from the time that you were unconscious and communicating with the people from the Ori galaxy."  
"Uhmm." Vala commented, still wanting to pursue the famous thing bit but knowing that she didn't really have time.  
"So, using that and this Tok'ra subspace communicator we've been trying to mimic the frequency sent and received by the stones... we just didn't know if we were having any luck."  
"I'm really glad that you are." Vala said with a smile. "I-I-I was hoping that you wer-"  
"So you're in the Ori galaxy?" Mitchell butted in. Vala noticed the new girl, Faith glare at him.  
"Yes..."  
"Are you able to communicate with Daniel?" Sam asked.  
Vala shook her head. "No, just see and hear you."  
"See we've been using the data collected from the stone that Daniel activated on this end." Sam explained. "Which is why you're connected to... his body."  
Vala grinned dreamily into a far distance that only she could see. "It's funny isn't it," She mused. "Daniel always wanted to get into my pants and now I'm in his."  
Faith choked back a snort of laughter as Cam scrunched his face up, visibly disturbed. Unfortunately, Vala caught her eye and gave her a sly wink which almost tipped the balance. Vala was clearly a completely different person currently inhabiting Daniel's body. Strange to say, it really wasn't that unusual when you worked in these kind of circles.  
"Oh that's not funny." Cam told her.  
"Hmm?" Vala asked, looking at Cam.  
"He can't defend himself." Cam explained to her.  
"Okay!" Sam said, desperately trying to keep the conversation on track. "You... Vala. Were the only other person on this end to touch a stone so..."  
"Oh... I get it... I get it!" Vala said. "I can't exactly connect to myself if I'm not here so..."  
"You know, last time we couldn't break the connection." Cam interrupted her again, Faith noticed.  
"Well that should be easy this time." Sam said. "We just shut down the computer..."  
"No!" Vala exclaimed, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "Uh, I mean, not yet. I didn't just drop in to say hello... I have something very important to tell you."  
Cam and Sam stared at her, obviously disbelieving. Faith on the other hand merely looked intrigued.

Faith found herself walking next to Vala as they all headed off to one of the interrogation rooms. The alien currently in charge of Daniel's body swished his hips from side to side in a way that a guy just shouldn't be able to manage. Of course, Vala wasn't a guy so...  
Damn she was glad that she'd only ever switched bodies with another female. Having to deal with guy bits would have been just wrong. Not that she minded having to deal with guy bits normally but when they were stuck on her body... now that was a thought that was just plain wrong.  
One of the hunkier marines rounded a corner, headed in their direction and Faith noticed Vala wink lasciviously at him. The poor guy turned completely white and stopped moving entirely for a moment before doing a quick about face and scuttling back the way he had come, plainly petrified. Faith sniggered and Vala glanced at her.  
"Nice pants." Vala commented.  
Faith looked down at her leather trousers. "Yeah," She sighed. "They were my favourite pair but the alien gloop just ain't coming out."  
"Well, I know this great little planet where they sell the most amazing leather goods." Vala told Faith. "Next time I'm in the Galaxy, we'll have to go."  
Faith nodded as they turned into the room. "Wicked."  
"So how exactly did you end up in the Ori Galaxy?" Sam asked as Vala took a seat behind a table and Cam switched on the camera.  
"Well... I remember staggering into the rings." Vala told them. "There were bolts of light everywhere."  
Sam nodded. "We suspected that the matter stream was sucked into the black hole." She said.  
"We all appreciate the part that you played in destroying the enemy beachhead." General Landry said.  
Faith glanced at him from her perch on the desk next to Sam. The usually affable General stood almost to attention, an impatient look on his face.  
"Don't mention it." Vala said graciously, reaching for a sip of the water. "By part... I assume you mean lead role." She grinned as she sipped at her water.  
General Landry forced a laugh. "We're happy to hear that you're okay..." He told her.  
"Actually, for the record, I never said I was okay." Vala corrected him, taking a breath to continue.  
"Actually the timing is a little awkward." The General informed her.  
Vala grimaced and seemed about to continue.  
"Sir, if we disconnect now there's no guarantee that we can re-establish the link." Sam told him.  
General Landry sighed. "Doctor Jackson was supposed to join me to meet with the Russian and Chinese representatives of the IOA..." He glanced at his watch. "...in about half an hour. They requested that he be there. Said it was a matter of great importance."  
"Not as important as what I have to tell you, believe me." Vala told him. "I'll try and be as quick as I can and then you can have Daniel back, I promise."  
Faith watched as General Landry nodded for Vala to continue.  
"So the next thing that I can remember is waking up in a bed in a village like Veraga... that's the one that Harid and Salis lived in... they're the people that Daniel and I inhabited for a while. Anyway, it turns out that this village is called Veriska." Vala took a long drink of water. "You know, this water is lovely, but I think Daniel skipped breakfast and I suddenly have a craving for pancakes and ice cream. Double chocolate fudge brownie if memory serves." She grinned at them and General Landry frowned back. "Oh... I'll continue, while you rustle that up. Thanks. So where was I?"  
Faith looked around as no-one seemed inclined to move and quietly slipped from the room as Mitchell reminded her.  
"In bed."

It was only a short ride down to Level 22 and the Mess but Faith itched to be back up on Level 19, listening to Vala tell her tale. She quickly ducked inside the Mess, shaking her head at various invitations to join tables and cut right to the front of the queue. A weedy guy in a white lab coat behind her objected until Faith turned round and silenced him with a glare. Hurrying, Faith filled a plate with pancakes (thank goodness they were still serving breakfast) and snagged a bowl of chocolate ice cream that had just been placed out in preparation for the lunchtime rush.  
Almost running now, she rushed out of the room and back to the elevators where she waited impatiently for one to arrive.

Cam watched Vala as she told them all about the guy who'd nursed her back to health. His head already hurt more than enough thanks to the large quantities of alcohol he had consumed last night and the whole situation was only making it hurt more. He noticed Faith slip back into the room with a tray full of food and place it in front of Vala.  
She certainly seemed perky enough, he decided as she sat down next to him. Slayer healing must be a blessing when it came to pesky things like alcohol poisoning. Stifling a yawn, he turned his attention back to Vala in time to see her lick her plate, leaving a smudge of chocolate on Daniel's nose. Both Sam and Faith motioned to their noses.  
"What?" Vala asked before she got it and wiped Daniel's nose with the back of his hand. "Oh!" She licked the ice cream off Daniel's hand and gave them a small smile. "Thanks.  
"I do realise he was a devout Ori follower and probably would have been on the front line cheering while they burnt me to death if he knew the truth about me but he was very sweet in his own way and not bad looking." Vala continued.  
"I think Tomin had been on his own before I came along... mostly due to a limp that had left him crippled since childhood. He didn't like to talk about it much but I could see that the other villagers looked down on him because of it. In their minds the Ori must have deemed him unfit for normalcy so that how they chose to see him."  
"Sounds like a great place." Faith muttered beside him. "Remind me not to go there."  
"I did my best to blend in," Vala carried on. "At first, according to Tomin and therefore as far as the villagers were concerned I was the woman who fell from the sky." She smiled wistfully. "Which made me feel kind of special. I later learned that they always suspected I'd escaped from another village as the result of some scandal and then I started to feel much more like I'm used to."  
Across the room, Teal'c raised an eyebrow.  
Unless Vala started getting to the good stuff soon, he was gonna tell Sam to pull the plug on the computer, Cam decided. But Vala was still talking.  
"...after a while I started to think and hope that things were going to be okay. Ultimately my goal was to find a way back here, or at the very least try and communicate with you, to let you know what was going on. So I figured my best bet was to root out any of Fanis' gang, the anti-Ori underground. See if they had any technology or any information about an Ori Stargate I might possibly gain access to. But I had to be careful. The village was run by this complete bear of a man named Seevis who was both barkeep and administrator which seemed the oddest contradiction. He claimed to be the most pious man in the village. If anyone stayed from the path of righteousness it was Seevis who made sure you were severely punished for it. But there seems to be a lot more leeway for sin in the religion of Origin than one would presume from all the preaching."  
"So it's just like my Grandma used to say..." Cam started.  
"No point going to confession if you ain't got nothin' to confess." Faith finished alongside him, remembering that particular homily from one of the earliest visions.  
Vala grinned. "Exactly!" She said, pointing at Cam. "I soon realised it wasn't a contradiction at all. Seevis was doing the work of the Gods by making sure this village had every reason in the world to prostrate, making him a very rich and very powerful man in the process."  
"Believe me," General Landry interrupted, finally reaching his breaking point. "I usually applaud the colourful details of a good story. Especially when told with such interesting intergalactic and bodysnatching means..."  
"There's a term you don't hear every day." Faith muttered to Cam.  
Across the room, Sam smiled at the Slayer.  
"But Daniel and I are late to meet with the Russian and Chinese representatives." The General finished in quelling terms.  
"You stated that you had information of great importance." Teal'c reminded Vala from his position at the very back of the room.  
"I do." Vala insisted. "I do...and I'm getting to it."  
Cam sighed. "We got the back story. Tomin is a nice guy, Seevis is a butthead. How 'bout you skip ahead a little?"  
Vala echoed his sigh. "Fine. Tomin and I got married."  
Teal'c raised an eyebrow.  
"Woow!" Sam piped up. "Married?"  
"Stay with me." Vala told her. "I had no choice. I told you he was very devout and there was no way he would have slept with me out of wedlock."  
Faith looked around the room to check that everyone was as lost as she was. They were all frowning, clearly confused. Well except for Teal'c. He merely looked vaguely puzzled.  
"Okay..." Cam said slowly, looking even more disturbed. "Maybe we skipped ahead a little too far."  
Faith really hoped so.  
"Well I tried to lay it out in order." Vala protested.  
Faith snickered. "Ooh, that's a bad choice of words."  
Sam closed her eyes, her lips moving ever so slightly. Cam had a vague idea that she might be praying for patience. He certainly was.  
"Okay." Sam said. "Why exactly did you have no choice?" She asked, picking up on Vala's earlier turn of phrase.  
Vala looked at her as though she was insane. "You know what these people do to you when you do something wrong... they burn you alive!"  
Cam crossed his arms. "And why would they burn you alive this time?"  
"For getting pregnant out of wedlock!" Vala said in a 'well, duh' tone of voice, her wildly gesticulating hands betraying her inner disquiet.  
Faith certainly hadn't seen that one coming. And from everyone else's faces, neither had they.  
"You're pregnant?" Cam and Faith asked at the same time.  
"Yes!" Vala said, gesturing at her stomach. Realisation took a moment and then she understood the problem. "I keep forgetting you can't actually see me.  
"When I realised why I was feeling sick all the time I figured I had to do something. I decided my only choice was to marry Tomin as quickly as possible and pray that the timing was close enough so he could be convinced the baby was his.  
"Alright!" Cam exclaimed. "Hold the phone. And I ask this, not one hundred percent sure I want to know the answer... whose baby is it?"  
Vala gave him a small tight smile and Faith realised that she was scared.  
"That's the thing." Vala told them. "I don't know."  
Sam grimaced. "As in...?" She asked, allowing the question to tail off.  
"I swear, I did none of the necessary bits!" Vala swore to them.  
Strange as it sounded, Faith believed her, even if everyone else seemed unconvinced.  
"Between my arrival in the Ori Galaxy and my wedding night, which was definitely after I knew for sure." Vala explained. "There is no way humanly possible – that I know of – that I could have gotten pregnant."  
Everyone stared at her, unsure of what to say.  
"Someone going to say something?" Vala sighed. "Anyone?"  
Still no-one replied until...  
"You have been impregnated without copulation?" Teal'c clarified as only he could.  
Faith's hand shot to her mouth a second too late to prevent the snort of laughter that escaped. Hopefully she got away with covering it with a cough a moment later, but somehow she doubted it. That was the trouble with T, you could never tell if he was joking or not when he said these things.  
"Yes." Vala said. "And I'm absolutely terrified. Have any of you ever heard of anything like it?"  
There was another awkward pause as everyone looked at each other.  
"Well," Cam said. "There's one."  
"Darth Vader." Teal'c immediately intoned.  
Faith bit her lip to keep from laughing. This wasn't a laughing matter, this wasn't a laughing matter, this wasn't a laughing matter. Vala looked genuinely worried. This wasn't a laughing matter.  
"Really?" Vala asked.  
Teal'c inclined his head solemnly "Hmmm."  
"How did that turn out?"  
"Actually I was thinking of King Arthur." Cam said before Teal'c could tell Vala.  
"You were?" Sam asked, doing a double take.  
Faith stared at him, surprised. With all of the Grandma visions she'd have sworn he'd be thinking of Jesus.  
"Yeah, I've been reading everything I can find on our Ancient friend Merlin." Cam explained as General Landry began to fidget. "According to some of the legends he enchanted the Queen who bore Arthur."  
"I have to go." General Landry announced, heading for the door.  
"Wait. I haven't even got to the bit you have to hear yet." Vala halted the General before he reached the open door. "Me carrying this child right now is a problem. A big problem, for me, but believe me there is one that is much, much bigger. They are building ships, and armies, by the tens of thousands. The village I am living in is one of many, on a world among dozens like it. As we feared since the day Daniel met the Ori, they have been preparing their followers for a crusade."  
Faith leaned forward, completely wrapped up in the story Vala was revealing.

"Hey Xander, have we heard anything from Faith yet?"  
The one-eyed man shook his head. "Nada Buff, sorry."  
Buffy sighed, her forehead crumpled with worry. "She should have checked in days ago. It was a simple delivery job, nothing could have gone wrong."  
Xander groaned.  
"I just jinxed it, didn't I?" 


	5. Duel Dreams

"When you say day of reckoning...?"  
Slayer Faith watched the scene in front of her avidly, her hunting knife lying idle in her hand, Teal'c observed to himself.  
"Well, we've heard numerous reports of the Prior in this Galaxy warning of an impending Dooms Day." Colonel Carter reminded Colonel Mitchell.  
"A day when all who have renounced the Ori path will feel their wrath." He elaborated for Slayer Faith's benefit.  
It was rare that one could see Slayer Faith as still as this. When they had first met, she had been filled with nervous energy. The same restless energy that she had been filled with over the past three days.  
"We knew the Priors were the first wave. The real crusade is about to begin. The ships are planning to leave."  
When they had last met, he and Slayer Buffy had discussed the Slayer's mystical calling which was revealed to them in the form of prophetic dreams. Could Colonel Mitchell and Slayer Faith's shared visions be an indication of where her destiny lay?  
"Somewhere out there the Ori have a working Supergate. Turns out the horrible feeling I had lied to Tomin about something was completely justified... but for a completely different reason. Thousands of men, women and children did not die that day. Seevis' plan failed."  
The Ori ships were still intact? Teal'c paid closer heed to Vala Mal Doran's words.  
"It didn't work." Vala said, clearly agitated. "The sabotage had broken down. Whether the Ori detected it or the Priors managed to thwart it on their own we don't know. All we know is that the ships came to life and nothing happened. Except the crowd cheered and began prostrating. Praying for a swift victory over all unbelievers." Vala told them.  
Vala was looking more and more scared, Faith noted. How long ago had this happened?  
"Do you have any other Intel we could use? You said this Seevis guy had access to the specs they had. What kind of weaponry do they have?" Cam asked.  
Faith looked at him, surprised at his insensitivity. Couldn't he tell that this was a recent event for Vala?  
"And shields... and anything on the power source they're using." Sam added.  
"No, no, I..." Vala stopped midsentence, staring at her gesturing hands.  
Faith frowned as Vala looked around. Something wasn't right. That wasn't Vala anymore.  
"Guys, what's going on?" He asked them cautiously.  
"Jackson?" Cam asked.  
"What's up Danny Boy?" Faith asked, nodding at the confused man.  
Daniel frowned, looking around him in puzzlement. "How did I get here?"  
"The emulator's still running." Sam said, checking the computer in front of her. "Something must have happened on Vala's end."  
"Vala?" Daniel asked on a slightly higher note.  
There was a pause and then...  
"Indeed."

Faith sat in front of the computer screen with her fingers poised to begin typing and her face lit by the blue light of the monitor. The cursor blinked repeatedly at her.  
Giles didn't make her write reports. Neither had Horry or Wesley. She'd bet Buffy had never written a military report even when she'd been dating that Riley guy. Why did she have to write one? Where the hell did she begin? Fuck it!  
She needed a smoke.

The sharp crack of wood on wood echoed through the training room as Cam and Teal'c circled one another, each waiting for an opening and attacking, counter-attacking and defending.  
"So Jackson took the whole bodysnatching thing well." Said Cam as he blocked a low sweep of Teal'c's krantu staff with a grunt of effort.  
"You believe so?"  
Cam blinked the sweat out of his eyes, dragging his forearm over his forehead. "Well, yeah. Don't you?"  
Teal'c opted not to reply, instead beginning a series of strikes that could only end with Colonel Mitchell on the floor.  
Cam struggled to meet Teal'c' sudden blows until he discovered the rhythm inherent in the attack.  
Suddenly it was easy to keep up with the Jaffa, and know where the next hit was coming from. Before Teal'c could land the final blow Cam had pivoted on one foot and slammed the other straight through Teal'c' staff, leaving him holding the two pieces.  
Apophis' former First Prime backed up two paces, staring at the fragments he held in his hands. Meeting Colonel Mitchell's eyes, he bowed his head low so as not to give away his shocked thoughts. The only other time he knew of that a krantu staff had been broken had been during his training bout with Buffy Summers. The Slayer's superior strength had accomplished the task as easily as Colonel Mitchell just had.

_"I don't know why I expected him to come rushing over and unchain me. Just the unborn mother of his child. Or so he was supposed to think.  
"I didn't know why he eventually did it. Or why Seevis let us go. I was left out there without food or water for three days."  
"Can't believe the baby survived that"  
"Part of me was hoping it didn't"  
"It's kinda surprising part of you was hoping it did. I mean, given how it was conceived."  
"It's hard to explain"_  
Daniel jumped as the phone on his desk rang and he quickly paused the tape.  
"Hello?"  
"Hear you got body-snatched again."  
"Jack." Daniel really didn't want to talk to anyone right now.  
"Daniel. How you doing?" Jack asked him.  
"I'm fine." How could he get Jack to leave him in peace, Daniel wondered, casting about him for inspiration. "I've just been reading up on the Holy Grail." He said, pulling a book forward at random and preparing to quote from it if necessary.  
"Great movie. 'Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.' Hey, d'ya think I should get it for Teal'c for Christmas?"  
"Uh, you gave it to him last year." Daniel reminded him, temporarily stymied by the change of subject.  
"Huh."  
"He hasn't got The Meaning of Life yet."  
"Eh, I'll think of something. So how's Vala?" Jack asked with another lightning change of subject.  
Daniel shrugged as he leant back in his chair. "She's good."  
"Good."  
Daniel kept quiet, knowing Jack was waiting for him to fill the silence with the inner ramblings of his mind and not wanting to share them. The awkward silence stretched on and on…  
"So how 'bout those Avalanches?"  
Daniel stifled a groan, tempted to start banging his head on the table. Obviously Jack wasn't gonna give up that easily. Jack never gave up that easily. God, he needed a distraction… anything would do, at this point he'd even welcome another foothold situation.  
Inspiration straightened his spine and drew him upwards in his seat. "Faith hit Anise." He told Jack.  
There was a brief silence from the other end of the line. "Damn." General Jack O'Neill swore. "I can't believe I missed that."  
"It was impressive." Daniel admitted.  
"I have to get a copy of that security tape." Jack sounded awestruck. "What did Anise say?"  
Daniel chuckled. "Not much. Doctor Lam only discovered the hairline crack in her jaw _after_ General Landry had her escorted from the base." He looked up at the knock on his door and waved General Landry in. "Look Jack, I'm gonna have to go or I'll be late for a briefing. No Jack, I'm not making an excuse. General Landry's here right now. Bye Jack." Daniel put the phone down and tidied a couple of books. "Sorry about that General." He apologised as they left his office. "What did the Russians want?"  
General Landry humphed. "The Stargate." He told Daniel shortly as the two men walked out.  
"What?" Daniel asked, shocked.  
General Landry nodded. "And they brought the Chinese in to bankroll the operation."  
Daniel paused as they stepped into the elevator, carefully considering the information the taciturn General had given him. "So what exactly did we have to give up in the end?" He asked.  
"304."  
"Really?" Daniel raised his eyebrows as the doors opened, discharging them out onto Level 27. "Surprised the president agreed to that."  
"Colonel Chekov has had his eye on one for a while. The latest was just about the roll off the line."  
"I thought the next Daedalus class ship wasn't due out of the pipeline for over a year…" Daniel said, resolving to speak to Sam about it. Was the government keeping secrets from them? He internally scoffed. Of course the government was keeping secrets from them. That's what they did. He was just fortunate to be in on some of the greatest secrets of his time.  
"Mmm…" Was all the General said. "It was a huge concession but we didn't have much choice." He added as they entered the Briefing Room where Teal'c, Mitchell and Sam were already waiting beside the observation window.  
"Sir." Sam said, turning to face them as they entered. "The Tok'ra and Asgard are scanning for subspace anomalies that would indicate Supergate activity." She informed them as Teal'c stepped away from the window to join the conversation. "We're monitoring the existing black holes that we know of… but it's a big galaxy." She reminded them.  
"And as we know the Ori could have built another one." Mitchell chimed in.  
"The Interim Council has placed Ha'tak class vessels in every region on high alert." Teal'c told the General.  
General Landry looked grim as he spoke. "This is one needle in a haystack we have to find. Do whatever you have to do."  
"If the Ori can send troops and ships here, we're going to need every advantage we've can find." Cam said, his clear gaze on the General.  
"Merlin was working on a weapon to fight the Ori." Sam picked up the baton of their previous conversation.  
"Every ally we have and everyone else on this base has already devoted themselves to finding the Supergate." Daniel said, realizing where they were going with this. He raised his eyebrows and turned to General Landry.  
"Sir." Cam caught the General's attention. "It won't take us long to search one planet where there may be an advanced weapon designed specifically to fight these guys.  
"This weapon won't help us against their followers." General Landry reminded him.  
"I don't think so, no." Daniel said. "But it will be a lot easier convincing their followers their gods are false if their gods aren't around anymore." He pointed out.  
General Landry's mouth curled up just a little bit around the edges, the ghost of something that might be called a smile if the circumstances they faced weren't so dire."Go." He told Daniel.  
Daniel nodded gravely. "Thank you Sir."  
Teal'c bowed low to the General and followed Daniel Jackson and Colonel Carter out of the room. Behind him, Colonel Mitchell stopped as General Landry held out his hand.  
"Colonel Mitchell, a word."  
Confused, Cam nodded and followed the General into his office.  
"Sir." Cam said, the honorific more a question than a statement.  
General Landry picked up a paper from his desk and studied it for a moment before turning to Colonel Mitchell.  
"I wanted to ask if you've noticed any… unusual side-effects from the Mind-Melder?" He asked the Colonel.  
Cam determinedly thrust all thoughts of his mangled doorknob firmly from his mind. "No Sir." He told the General firmly.  
Landry frowned, his gaze on the paper he held. "I have here," he said, holding up the paper, "a list of reports of unusual behaviour exhibited by both you and Faith. The only conclusion that I can draw from it is that the two of you are sharing more than just visions."  
Cam opened his mouth to say something…anything, but the General continued speaking.  
"The only option I have is to inform you that you are on stand-down as of now and that you and Faith are to report to the Infirmary for further tests as soon as SG-1 has left for PX1-767."  
"But Sir!" Cam protested.  
"That is an order Colonel." General Landry squished the Colonel's protest like a bug. "Between the visions and the possibility of new side-effects, you would be a liability on this mission and any other until we can find a way to reverse the process. Dismissed."  
Landry sat down behind his desk and opened a file. Pretending to read from it, he waited until Colonel Mitchell had left before leaning back in his seat with a sigh. Well, that had gone slightly better than he'd expected.

She felt it as soon as he heard the news. She didn't know how she felt it or why he felt that way but she did. His anger and frustration had her reaching for her last packet of cigarettes only to find that she'd smoked them all in front of his computer as she'd struggled to put words onto the screen. Fuck!  
As Faith grabbed the mug she'd been using as an ashtray Cam appeared in the doorway.  
"What are you doing here?" His voice was unusually harsh and he looked hard and brittle, as though he might shatter without the slightest warning.  
"I needed to write that report on the aliens." Faith told him, standing and moving closer to him. "Daniel was using his office and Sam was setting up some experiments so…" She shrugged. Damn, why was she acting like her mom had just come in drunk?  
"So you thought you could just use my office without asking me… Is that my mug?"  
Faith looked guilty at the cup she held in her hands. "No." She said, hiding it behind her back.  
"It is!" Cam grabbed for it as she pulled it out of reach.  
"I'm sorry." The unaccustomed apology tumbled easily from her lips as Cam's fingers closed around the mug and she let go.  
Cam fumbled with the unexpected weight and the mug tumbled from his grasp. It bounced once on the concrete and smashed as it met the ground for the second time. Shards of china mixed with the ash and cigarette butts it had contained. There was a moment of horrified hush as Faith and Cam stared at the rubbish that had been his favourite mug.  
Cam slammed the door shut behind him and turned to Faith, his eyes lit from within with some fiery emotion. "You used my mug as an ashtray?" He asked in an ominously restrained tone.  
Faith glanced guiltily at the wreckage. "Well, yeah…" She attempted to explain.  
"That is just so fucking typical of you!" Cam exploded. "You don't give a damn about anyone or anything."  
"Hold on a fucking minute." Faith erupted, still unsure of what exactly was going on. "How dare you come in here with your holier-than-you attitude and preach at me like one of those Ori priest guys? What the fuck is that matter with you?"  
Cam's eyes narrowed and he stepped towards Faith. "You don't know jack about the Ori so don't try and drag them into this. This is about you and your constant disrespect for any kind of authority."  
"Hello!" Faith stared at him as if he was crazy, tapping the side of her head. "Vision-O-Rama here. And like crap this is about me. This is about you and whatever psychological trauma you're suffering from this time."  
"Oh God!" Cam groaned, staring up at the ceiling. "Please let this be temporary. Please don't let me be Mind-Melded to a psychopathic Tricia-wannabe forever."  
"Hey! You think I wanna be stuck with you the rest of my life?" Faith shouted at Cam. "I have a purpose. A calling!"  
"And I don't?" Cam yelled back. "I haven't gone off-world once since you arrived."  
Despite herself Faith found herself giving ground as Cam paced towards her. "Well, what's stopping you?" She cried as the backs of her thighs brushed against his desk.  
"You are!" Cam roared into Faith's face, planting his hands on either side of the desk.  
Oh fuck, she liked that he didn't back down from her, Faith realized as the air around the pair thickened with sexual tension. In fact, she liked it so much that she wanted nothing more than to –  
Cam's eyes glazed over as Faith frantically tried to repress the thought.  
Oh fuck, she thought, seconds before the evocative vision swept her away too.

Sam carefully checked all of the equipment she had put in place to monitor the Mind-Melder while she was gone. She wondered what Cam was doing as she slightly recalibrated the parameters that one of her laptops would record.  
"You ready?" Daniel asked, sticking his head around the open door.  
Sam hit the 'enter' key. "Just about." She said, picking up her pack and falling into step between Teal'c and Daniel. Unnoticed behind her, the monitors in her lab went berserk as they recorded the largest energy spike from the Mind-Melder so far.  
"Feels strange going off-world without Mitchell now." Daniel commented as they headed towards the Gateroom. "It's like when Jack got promoted and it was just us going through the gate all over again."  
"I don't think he's too happy about it either." Sam confided as they entered the elevator that would take them down to Level 28. "Have you seen him since?" She asked.  
Daniel shook his head. "You?"  
"I'd have swung by his office to say hey but I had to set the instruments up for the Mind-Melder." Sam explained with a shake of her head.  
"Where is his office?" Daniel asked with a frown, perturbed by the sudden realisation that he'd never been to Mitchell's office. Hell, he'd never been to Jack's until he got promoted to General but that wasn't the point. Mitchell was new to the base, he should have made a point of stopping by. But he'd been distracted by the thought of going to Atlantis and then Vala had stopped by... and it wasn't really an excuse he realised.  
Sam opened her mouth to tell him and then shut it again when she realised that she didn't know either. She and Daniel shared a look as the elevator doors opened. They really needed to start doing things as a team again.  
"Movie nights?" Sam suggested as they walked towards the Gateroom.  
Daniel nodded. "What do you think Teal'c?"  
"Perhaps although Darth Vader does in fact redeem himself, he is not a suitable role model for Vala Mal Doran's unborn child after all." The large Jaffa rumbled, his thoughts clearly elsewhere as Daniel swiped his security card in the reader and the Gateroom door opened.  
"Chevron Five engaged." Walter commented from the Control Room.  
"I hope Cam doesn't do anything... rash while we're gone." Sam idly continued her previous tone of thought as they turned to face the spinning Stargate while it selected the sixth chevron.  
"Chevron six engaged." Walter announced in case anyone had missed it.  
"Indeed." Teal'c agreed as the door they had entered through opened once more and Cam and Faith dashed inside, carrying the Mind-Melder between them.  
"Chevron seven is locked." Walter said as the vortex formed and Faith snatched the Mind-Melder from Cam's grasp.  
Sam gasped as the Slayer sprinted towards the already vanishing vortex, aiming the Mind-Melder at its very heart.  
"Like that?" Daniel asked.  
"Indeed." 


	6. When Dreams End

"You're sure this'll work?" Faith asked as the elevator sped downwards. The doors opened and she and Cam raced for the Gateroom.  
"Hey, it worked for Vala and Jackson." Cam replied, struggling to hold his end of the heavy Mind-Melder.  
Faith frowned. "Wasn't that a completely different piece of technology?" She asked as they reached the Gateroom doors and Cam fumbled for his door card.  
"Chevron six engaged." Walter's voice drifted through the opening door.  
Cam and Faith sprinted past the waiting members of SG-1 towards the ramp.  
"Chevron Seven is locked." Walter announced as the Stargate activated with a kawoosh.  
Desperately, Faith heaved the Mind-Melder above her head as she ran up the ramp, leaving Cam behind her. Pulling up before she ran into the open wormhole, Faith turned around.  
"Did it work?" She asked, still holding the Mind-Melder above her head.  
A clearly elated Cam merely grinned at her like an escaped lunatic while behind him, his fellow teammate's expressions ranged from stoic curiosity to absolute shock. The wormhole behind Faith shut off with an electronic fizz and she slowly lowered the Mind-Melder onto the ramp. No wonder Cam was so happy. The kawoosh had completely disintegrated the amber crystal that protruded from the top of the device.  
Faith was so pleased that she briefly considered attempting Xander's Snoopy dance but she quickly dismissed the idea when she realized what it would do for her reputation once word got out. Instead she opted to throw her head back and let loose with a deep throaty laugh. Holding onto her aching ribs, she stepped off the ramp just as the Gateroom doors slid open once more and a furious-looking General Landry strode into the room.  
"Colonel Mitchell! Miss Lehane!" The stocky General barked.  
Cam immediately pulled himself to attention while a loose-limbed Faith lounged next to him, a large grin spread all across her face. Opposite them, the other members of SG1 straightened their own postures as the General glared at the two miscreants.  
"Just what do you think you're doing?" He shouted.  
Faith and Cam glanced at each other. A corner of Cam's mouth lifted ruefully as he turned back to his commanding officer.  
"The Mind-Melder was keeping Faith and I from fulfilling our duties, Sir." He explained. "We felt it best to sever our connection by destroying it."  
Sam stepped forward. "Sir, I'd like to check the Mind-Melder over, make sure it's fully powered down." She requested.  
Pursing his lips as he frowned at Colonel Mitchell and Faith, General Landry nodded and Daniel, Sam and Teal'c stepped forward to collect the metallic mound that was all that was left of the Mind-Melder. Faith skipped back to help them, easily lifting one side with one hand and their help. Nodding at the General as they began to carry it off the ramp and out of the room, she was stopped when he spoke.  
"Where do you think you're going?" General Landry asked her.  
"I was just gonna help them with the Mind-Melder." Faith told him, her free hand on her hip. The others waited patiently as she stood.  
General Landry shook his head. "I don't think so Miss Lehane." He said. "You and Colonel Mitchell are to report to the Infirmary." Faith scowled. "At once." The General ordered.  
"Yes Sir." Colonel Mitchell nodded, grabbing Faith by the arm and towing her out of the room.  
The Mind-Melder dipped for a moment as Faith was torn away from the device and then it steadied as the rest of SG1 adjusted their grips.  
"Colonel Carter, I want your report on my desk in an hour." General Landry informed SG1's Second in Command as he made his way out of the Gateroom.

It wasn't until they were in the elevator and Sergeant Peterson gave him a funny look that Can realized he was still holding onto Faith's arm. Embarrassed and not quite sure why, he glanced down at Faith as he dropped her arm. She was staring steadily ahead as the elevator doors opened on level 21.  
They stepped out of the elevator together, heading towards the infirmary, together but separate. Cam felt the silence surrounding them grow thick and oppressive as he struggled to find the impetus to speak.  
"I'm sorry." He said.  
Faith shrugged. "No big." She told him. "Not like anything actually happened."  
"I meant about dragging you around downstairs." Cam told her awkwardly. "And for shouting at you earlier."  
Faith actually looked at him then. A quick and assessing look, as though she was trying to measure how sincere he was being.  
"It's cool." She said before looking away again.  
"We're good?" He pressed.  
A corner of Faith's mouth twisted up in what could almost be termed a smile as they walked into the infirmary to be confronted with a waiting Doctor Lam.  
"Five by five." Faith told him.

General Landry closed the door to his office with a sigh of relief and a smile on his face. It wasn't often that he got a chance to shout at his officers and he relished every chance he got these days. Opportunities to shout came his way about as frequently as a quiet day in the SGC and it was the one thing he really missed about his life before the Stargate. Shouting always made him feel better. It really was a shame that everyone at Stargate Command was so good at their jobs. On the other hand, it did mean that he appreciated the rare chance to raise his voice when it came along.  
Softly humming to himself, General Landry reached for the nearest pile of paperwork and began slowly working his way through it while he waited for his premier team to report back to him.

Faith was left kicking her heels on her infirmary bed as the Doc lead Mitchell off to meet a fate that no doubt included lots of needles. The waiting got to her most she decided. Just hanging round like she had nothing better to do when she could be getting on with her report. Aw hell, who was she kidding? The goddamn report was as good as it was gonna get. She just wanted to get the hell out of there. Get topside, have a smoke and get the fuck outta dodge. Away from Mitchell before the fall-out of their shared vision really hit.  
A soft voice pulled her from her reverie and she looked up into Teal'c's deep brown eyes.  
"Huh?" She asked.  
"Are you well, Slayer Faith?" Teal'c asked once more.  
Faith sighed. "Waitin' to find that out T. Doc's got Mitchell in her clutches now and it's my turn next."  
"I heard that." Doctor Lam's voice floated out of the curtained cubicle at the other end of the room.  
With a grimace, Faith hopped off the bed. "Follow my lead." She whispered to the large alien, leading the way out of the infirmary.  
"Just going for a smoke doc!" She yelled back into the room, hurrying away before the woman could object.

Sam huffed to herself as she examined the alien device. Nothing. Nada. Zip, as Jack would say. The device was completely dead. It wasn't even emitting the slight amount of radiation that she'd noted as a baseline. Although she understood Cam and Faith's decision to destroy the machine the scientist in her couldn't help but feel that they would never understand the device or its effects now.  
She sighed unhappily as she clicked open the program that had been monitoring the Mind-Melder's emissions. Ho boy!  
Quickly Sam pulled up the security tape from the Gateroom, noting the time that Faith and Cam had entered the Gateroom. Comparing it to the time of the last recorded vision, she noticed that vision her devices had registered had occurred several minutes before the Mind-Melder had been destroyed. Still, it must have been a real humdinger of a vision according to these figures.

Faith lasted for five minutes before Teal'c' stoic silence finally cracked her. Taking a deep drag on her cigarette she spoke though the smoke that bellowed thickly through her mouth.  
"So what's the what Big T?" she asked.  
Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I am unclear as to your meaning Slayer Faith."  
The dark slayer eyed him suspiciously. Was that a glint of amusement hidden behind his eyes? "What d'ya wanna talk about?" She asked. "Unless you followed me all the way up here just to stand next to me in silence."  
"I was contemplating the best way in which to approach the subject of Slayer visions with you." Teal'c explained his silence with a solemn air.  
Faith grimaced. "B's the best person to talk to." She told him. "She gets 'em all the time. Me, I'm more in the now. I don't get the dreams but I've got a kick-ass demon radar."  
Teal'c nodded, his gaze fixed into the night sky. "Buffy Summers mentioned that the visions came in dreams."  
"Yeah," Faith said despondently, grinding her cigarette out beneath her heel. "They're cryptic warnings about upcoming battles. And sometimes there's a cheese guy."  
Teal'c frowned as Faith lit another cigarette. A cheese guy?  
"As B says, they're all about the vague." Faith continued. "Kinda glad I don't get 'em. I got enough shit to be dealin' with without the added guilt of thinking 'if I'd only figured it out earlier.'"  
"These visions, they are sent by the Powers That Be?" Teal'c queried.  
"That's the word on the street." Faith said flippantly as a marine guard touched her arm.  
"Miss Lehane?" The soldier asked as Faith whirled around to meet him.  
The brown-eyed woman looked him up and down carefully before answering and unbelievably, the marine felt himself start to flush under her gaze.  
"Yeah," she drawled.  
The tips of his ears bright scarlet, the marine shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His collar felt unbearably tight and he manfully resisted the urge to run his finger around the inside to loosen it.  
"Doctor Lam is waiting for you." He thankfully managed to tell her without stuttering or stammering in any way before turning smartly on his heel and carefully marching back to his post.  
An amused Faith watched him go, a slight smile curling up her lips. "You comin' T?" She asked, stubbing out her cigarette.  
Teal'c gracefully inclined his head and remained where he was.

Faith stared at the conference table as Sam droned on about how the Mind-Melder was deader than the Dodo. She was almost painfully aware of Cam sitting two chairs up from her and the fact that he hadn't looked at her once since she'd entered the room. Not that she cared of course. In fact, she wouldn't care if he never looked at her again. It'd be a relief. Then she wouldn't have to look at him.  
Daniel looked up at Faith's bored sigh and shared a commiserating smile with her. Many years of practice had left him with the ability to tune out the bits he didn't understand and focus only on those that were important. Sam usually made an effort to keep the more esoteric parts of her research out of her briefings but unfortunately the destruction of alien technology always left her in a bad mood and consequently she was giving her techno babble full rein.  
Mitchell hadn't been here long enough to know how precious the puzzle of alien technology was to Sam. It was something that he was now finding out. As Sam talked more and more about esoteric feedback, subliminal bleedback and energy dispersal he slumped further and further into his seat, staring determinedly out of the window into the Gateroom.  
Daniel sympathised with Mitchell and Faith's decision to destroy the Mind-Melder. Sure the way in which they did it signified a disturbing trend in Mitchell's behaviour but they were the ones linked by the device. They were the ones who had to deal with seeing each other's innermost imaginings on a day in day out basis. No-one could find a way to switch the Mind-Melder off and so, ultimately, they had been the only ones who could have made the call to toss it in the vortex. Fortunately, the writing hadn't been vaporised.  
Daniel took another sip of his coffee as Mitchell shifted stiffly in his seat.  
He didn't have to keep thrusting those kinds of thoughts away now, Cam reminded himself as he relaxed again. The rigorous self-discipline he'd imposed on himself over the past week hadn't amounted to squat in the end. Unable to help it, he stole a sidelong look at Faith. That last vision had been... mind-blowing. There was no other way to describe it.  
And at the same time he was _so_ glad that it was over that he kinda felt bad about it. It wasn't that he didn't like Faith. They'd gotten to know one another fairly well and despite her obvious shortcomings she was definitely one of the people he wanted at his side when the apocalypse came.  
But to have her mind permanently welded to his... Never knowing where his thoughts ended and hers began. Goodbye Stargate, goodbye Air Force, hello loony bin!  
"Thank you Colonel Carter." General Landry interrupted when it looked likely the blonde astrophysist would continue for another half hour at least.  
Sam reluctantly took her seat and reached for a glass of water as the General addressed the room.  
"Given the short timescale and lack of manpower and taking into consideration Doctor Lam and Colonel Carter's reports SG1 has a go in two hours, _providing_ that there are no further visions." He told them. "Miss Lehane, I expect your report on my desk before you leave."  
Cam's delight was written all over his face, Faith thought bitterly. He clearly couldn't wait to escape through his precious Stargate and frankly, she'd be glad to see the back of this mountain. After a week cooped up underneath it she was dying to get out on the open road and feel the wind tugging through her hair.

"Faith!" Cam called as he finally caught sight of the graceful woman. "Hey, wait up." He jogged after her, finally catching up with her in front of the busy entrance to the commissary.  
Looking round at the curious faces, he quickly steered Faith around the corner and into one of the empty isolation quarters.  
"What did I do wrong this time?" She asked, a weary look in her already too-old eyes.  
"Where've you been?" Cam asked at the same time. "I've been looking for you for ages." The tall officer realised what she'd said and frowned. "What? Nothing. Why would you have done something wrong?"  
Faith sighed, avoiding his eyes. "What do you want?"  
Cam fingered the gift he'd bought her so long ago, still in his pocket. Why was she making this so difficult?  
"I figured I should stop by and say goodbye before we go." He said, his puzzlement creeping into his voice and making him sound uncertain.  
Faith folded her arms across her chest and herself into an even smaller space. "I don't do goodbyes." She told him bluntly.  
"SG1 to the Embarkation Room." Walter announced over the base PA system. "SG1 to the Embarkation Room."  
The hell with it and her, Cam decided, yanking out his cap and jamming it over his head with more force than was strictly necessary.  
"I guess I'll see you around then." He said as he strode out of the door, slamming it behind him.

General Landry chuckled to himself as he reread the copy of Faith's report. The IOA were gonna love this one!

Waiting for the 'Gate to finish dialling, Cam couldn't help looking up at the Briefing and Control Room windows. Despite the awfulness of that last scene, he'd honestly expected her to be there. Was she that desperate to escape that she couldn't even wait to see them off?  
Looking back at the 'Gate as the vortex rushed out towards them, he caught Sam's eye and she gave him a sympathetic smile. Had he really stooped that low he asked himself and then decided he didn't want to know the answer.  
Putting all thoughts of the past week firmly behind him, he stepped forward with his teammates on a quest to find Merlin's weapon.

Many hours later, Faith pulled her motorbike into the parking lot of a small motel on the outskirts of Des Moines. Craving food, cigarettes and sleep, not necessarily in that order, she swung her leg over the bike and set off to see about getting a room.  
Several hours in the saddle had blown her problems away and it was an unusually relaxed and carefree Faith who fell fully clothed onto the vibrating bed. The last thought to cross her mind before sleep claimed her was that Cam really needed to get a better hat. The SGC-issued one made his ears stick out like Will Smith's.

Halfway across the galaxy, Cam stared into the night sky of a foreign world and wondered what Faith was doing right now. Fighting for her life in a crowded cemetery, riding her bike into the sunset or searching for a perfect pair of leather pants it didn't matter. She wouldn't be thinking of him that was for sure. He shouldn't be thinking about her now. He should be thinking about the Black Knight and Merlin's library.  
The Black Knight attacking in the village like that had been unexpected and he worried that his team might face the fallout still further in the morning. The villagers had seemed extremely hostile earlier and it went without saying that they were no longer honoured visitors in anyone's eyes. Except perhaps Valencia's.  
Unconsciously, he flexed the wrist that still ached from the jarring impact of her sword against his as he considered the young girl. Was it just his imagination or had she had the same light in her eyes that Faith got when sparring with Teal'c?

The dancing light flickered over Faith's somnambulant form as she slowly stirred. The irregularity of its visits to her face finally succeeded in waking her and she opened her eyes to see the event horizon of an open wormhole inches from her nose.  
Startled, she jerked backwards and tumbled onto the flat roof outside her apartment in Sunnydale. Breathing harshly and freaking out more than a little, Faith stared wildly around her, her bare feet scraping against the cement of the roof.  
"You think you know?" A voice spoke from behind her and Faith whirled around to stare incredulously at the white-haired woman before her.  
"Who you are? What's to come?" Willow continued, cradling the Slayer Scythe in her arms like a baby.  
"What the fuck Red?" Faith asked, struggling to understand what was happening around her.  
A pale man in a beige suit walked along the roof ledge behind Willow, his clear gaze fixed firmly on Faith. Slowly, he brought a pale golden slice of emmental cheese up to his face. One clear lens of his glasses shone brightly through the cheese as he giggled and jumped off the roof.  
"You've only just begun." Willow said sadly, a tear escaping from her eye and falling towards the ground.  
It reflected intense light as it fell. So bright that Faith screwed her eyes up and looked away. When she looked back she was in the apartment she shared with Robin and Buffy was packing her things into a bag, an emerald pendant dangling over her heart.  
Buffy paused when she saw Faith. "You're late." The Slayer told her dark counterpart.  
"Didn't think I'd ever get here." Said Faith, walking forward to unpack her bag.  
Buffy frowned as Faith began to empty the bag she'd filled. "You'll make it in time if you leave now." The short blonde began to repack the bag.  
"But I just arrived." Faith protested, emptying the bag as quickly as Buffy filled it.  
"You don't belong here." Buffy told her, placing the Mind-Melder inside the bag. "They need you more than we do."  
Faith stopped unpacking to look at Buffy. "I don't know where they are."  
"They'll find you." Buffy reassured her. "But there's a long way to go before dark." She warned, zipping up the bag and handing it to Faith.  
Faith clutched at her bag like a lifeline. "I don't know the way." She fretted.  
"They don't like it if we peek." Buffy screwed her face up in warning.  
"Where's the fun in that?" Faith grinned and Buffy smiled back.  
Holding a finger to her lips, the senior slayer tiptoed towards Faith's closet and opened it. Holding the door wide open, she gestured for Faith to precede her. With a last glance around her familiar surroundings, Faith stepped into the dark closet, Buffy close behind her.  
"Why is it so dark?"  
"My bad."  
The sun was high above the desert and Faith felt something deep within her respond to the fierce heat with a surge of primal energy. In the distance a dark shadow moved.  
"Can she come too?" Faith asked.  
Buffy gestured to where the figure crouched by a fire in front of an open wormhole. "She's already there."  
As they approached the Stargate Faith turned to Buffy. "Come with us." She invited.  
The emerald pendant around Buffy's neck shone brightly in the sun as she declined. "It's Tuesday." She explained. "Hurry up or you'll be too late." She urged as Faith hesitated.  
"Did you pack a stake?" Faith asked, inches from the wormhole.  
"You've got everything you need."  
Try as she might, Faith couldn't remember anything that had gone into her bag other than the Mind-Melder.  
"Do I have to go?" She asked.  
"You wanted a peek." Buffy said as she rolled her eyes and pushed Faith into the wormhole.  
Cam lay exhausted and covered in mud on the filthy ground as a knight in black armour thrust his sword through Cam's heart.  
A procession of girls marched in front of her eyes, starting with a girl in a wicked ugly dress and brown hat and ending with a small child with long blonde hair chained to a stone seat as fire crept closer and closer.  
A Stargate with an odd orange mushroom in front of it. Hurriedly she pressed buttons and the Stargate began to dial.  
"Slayer Faith." Teal'c greeted her, a pleased smile on his lips and an odd grey streak in his hair.  
Men who she knew from Cam's memories were Priors commanded soldiers to burn and loot villages, towns, cities, planets, laying waste to all those who did not tremble before the Ori.  
Daniel bloody, broken and lifeless on the ground as a black-haired woman clung to him.  
Willow disappearing in a flash of light.  
Buffy, Giles, Dawn and Xander were fed to the fire, forcing it to burn brighter, higher, all around her. Stifling her with its heat and burning greedily against her skin until the pain was too great.  
Faith woke with a start, half-convinced she was still burning. 


	7. Interlude: Faith's Report

Faith's Report

Was outside having a smoke when the alarms went off and the big metal door closed. Daniel told me what was going on then I got a vision from Cam asking me where I was.

I was itching for a fight so Danny Boy and I climbed down the ladder after I told Cam not to send any visions my way for a while. When we finally got down to the SGC Cam and Teal'c had been captured so Daniel and I decided to kick ass. On the way we met Sam and we all went to a room with lots of monitors to make a plan. I was all up for just whaling on the bad guys until they gave up but Sam and Daniel said we needed a plan so I went with them.

Cam and I swopped visions so he knew what was going on while Sam messed around with the computers for a bit, hooked a laptop up to them and then climbed up to the surface to meet with the head honchos up there and let them know what was going on.

Daniel and I headed for the armory where we picked up loads of wicked cool weapons and loaded Danny Boy up. He surrendered to the aliens so that we could get the weapons into the Gateroom which was when I saw the aliens do that weird splitting thingy where there was one of them and then there were two.

I went to the Control Room as planned and when Sam turned off the lights I had a wicked cool fight with the aliens until they were all dead and then Sam turned the power back on and there was light.

I had to sit through a three hour long debrief and I told everyone what had happened then so I don't know why I have to write this report, especially as I'm not even a member of the SGC but here it is.


	8. Dawn of a New Dream

The ring of the telephone blended perfectly with the jangle of door keys as Robin juggled shopping with keys in a vain attempt to get to his phone before it went to the answer machine. It was a doomed effort because even as he fumbled for the right key he heard the beep of a new message being recorded.

Finally unlocking the door, he kicked the door to his apartment open and almost dropped his shopping as he recognised the voice echoing from his phone.

"-not sure how long I'll be away for so it's probably for the best." Faith told his machine. She sighed as he dumped his bags on the side and hurried to the phone. "I guess I'll see you around."

"Faith?" He called into the receiver as he finally managed to pick the phone up. "Faith?"  
He was too late. She had hung up. It was typical of their relationship lately. She'd disappear for a few days and then breeze by on her way to somewhere else he couldn't follow. It was a good thing that he had the Slayer School here in Cleveland to run or he could have gone mad waiting for her. She'd just been gone for longer this time and hadn't even bothered with the courtesy of a face-to-face visit.  
Incredibly weary, Robin pressed the play button to listen to the whole of Faith's message.  
Minutes later, he was picking up the phone to call Buffy.

It was well past the witching hour when General Landry finally finished with the mountain of paperwork that sending a pre-emptive strike to a distant part of the galaxy involved. With the prospect of even more arriving on his desk tomorrow, he wasn't looking forward to the long drive back to his lonely house and empty bed.  
Still, at least they'd made progress today. He could only hope that SG1 had done the same, having dispatched the Odyssey to pick them up en route to the newly discovered Supergate only a few short hours ago. Groaning as he stood and felt his back complain about the abuse it had received, the General shuffled towards his coat, feeling every one of his sixty-plus years at least twice.  
Naturally that was the moment that Walter picked to knock on his door. Didn't the man ever sleep? Stifling another groan – Generals didn't groan after all – Landry sat himself back down in the torturous device laughingly known as an office chair and called Walter in.  
The sergeant entered and closed the door behind him, never a good sign.  
"Well Walter, what is it this time?" The General asked, deciding that his back had taken enough punishment for one day and standing.  
Walter hesitated before speaking, yet another bad sign and finally opened his mouth. "General, there's a group of people at the gate, asking for Faith." The dedicated Stargate technician told his commanding officer.  
General Landry frowned. Faith had left the Mountain hours ago, heading for parts unknown. Why was Walter bothering him with this?  
"Tell them that she's not here any more and send them on their way." He ordered, heading once more for his coat.  
Walter cleared his throat. "Ah, Sir, we tried that already." He said. "They're quite insistent on speaking with the 'Head Honcho Man'."  
To the General's everlasting horror, Walter actually framed the honorific with air quotes. Staring at his right-hand-man as though he'd lost his mind, the General plucked his coat off the stand.  
"They'll have to come back tomorrow." He decided. "I'm going home."  
"Sir, they're on foot." Walter blurted.  
This was the final straw for the beleaguered General. "Do I want to know how they got here?" He asked, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers,  
Walter shifted uncomfortably. "According to the sentries they appeared out of thin air."  
"This is going to give me a headache isn't it?" General Landry posed the rhetorical question as he stood forlornly clutching his coat.  
"Yes Sir."

There were many things that Faith had done in her short life but cheating wasn't one of them. Yeah, sure that was only 'cause she'd never had a steady boyfriend before, just a string of one night stands, but hey, a girl had to have some standards.  
The vision she had shared with Cam had freaked her out in more ways than one, but the main stumbling block she'd come across was that it had felt like cheating and it had felt good. As far as she was concerned that was the kiss of death to a relationship that was already standing shakily on its last legs. She'd seen her mom nonchalantly two-timing her sleaze-bag boyfriends without a care in the world, but it had always come back to bite her in the end. The one good boyfriend driven away by her cheating ways, the jealous lover taking his anger out on her, driving his fist in her stomach where no-one wouldn't see the bruises; the crazy ex with a gun who'd succeeded in shooting her mom through the heart. She'd seen 'em all. No matter how bad a man started out, you could make him worse by trampling all over his masculine pride. She'd always sworn that no matter what the temptation she'd never fall down that slippery slope.  
Cam had tested that resolve and it had scared her so much that she'd run as far away as possible before finally stopping for the night. Now she was cursing every mile she'd travelled as she sped along the same roads she'd taken the day before.  
Being late wasn't an option.

It was no secret that Buffy Summers didn't like the military. She didn't like secret bases and she especially didn't like being deep underground. So it's understandable that by the time she and her best friends were ushered into the Briefing Room she was tense and on edge. Ignoring General Landry's proffered hand, she went straight on the offensive.  
"What have you done to Faith?" She demanded to know as Xander and Willow fanned out to stand on either side of her, showing solidarity in the face of a potential enemy.  
Frowning, General Landry allowed his hand to fall to his side. "Miss Lehane left this base almost eighteen hours ago." He curtly informed them. "As our Chief Medical Officer will testify, she was fit and well at the time."  
Buffy scowled at him. "Then why did she leave a hysterical message on her boyfriend's answering machine two hours ago?"  
"Somehow I find it difficult to believe that Miss Lehane could ever be called hysterical." General Landry said wryly.  
"Why did Faith spend a week here on a simple delivery job that should have taken a day at most?" Xander asked, seeing that an aggressive approach wasn't getting them anywhere and trying a different tack.  
Gesturing for them to follow his lead, General Landry sat down with a sigh. Reaching behind her, Buffy pulled the Slayer Scythe from its hiding place and carefully positioned it on the table between them before taking a seat. To his credit, the General didn't even blink, even waving his hand for the soldiers to stand down after they bristled and clutched their weapons tighter. Her resolve face still firmly in place, Willow glared at the General as she sat down on Buffy's right while on the Slayer's left Xander looked as menacing as only a man with an eye-patch can.  
"While taking delivery of the alien device you sent us, Miss Lehane and Colonel Mitchell inadvertently became linked."  
"Linked?" Willow interrupted.  
General Landry nodded once. "As far as we were able to determine, the device allowed Colonel Mitchell and Miss Lehane to view each other's thoughts." The General continued. "Unfortunately, receiving a vision incapacitated the viewer until the vision ended." He paused his explanation, noticing the concerned glances his three visitors were exchanging. "What?"  
"Faith mentioned visions." Xander muttered more to Buffy than the General.  
Willow shook her head. "She said a Slayer vision. And he said that she was okay when she left here." The witch argued, waving a hand at General Landry.  
"Faith doesn't get Slayer visions." Buffy reminded her.  
"The visions stopped as soon as the device was destroyed." General Landry agreed with Willow. "Colonel Mitchell would have checked back in if they had resumed."  
"Where is this Colonel Mitchell?" Xander asked.  
"You destroyed it?" Willow spoke at the same time as her friend.  
"Colonel Mitchell is currently off-world on a mission with the rest of SG-1. He and Miss Lehane took the decision to destroy the Mind-Melder into their own hands without any official orders." General Landry trod carefully through the minefield of a meeting. "Just what did Miss Lehane say in her message?" He asked, curious as to why her friends were so desperate to find her.  
Buffy looked carefully at the General, searching for a sign that he might not be all that he seemed. Finding nothing but concern written on his face, she sighed and spilled the beans.  
"She said that she'd had a Slayer dream and she was gonna to have to go a long way away. She didn't know when she'd be back or where she was going."  
General Landry frowned. "So you assumed that we had something to do with it."  
"It was a long shot." Buffy admitted with a shrug. "But we knew there was something funky going on because she spent so long here." Screwing her face up and turning to Xander Buffy asked, "Did I just say funky?"  
"Yup." Xander told her cheerfully.  
Buffy sighed and picked up the Slayer Scythe. "I've been in England too long."

Another day, another diagnostic, Walter Harriman thought happily as he tapped out the appropriate commands. Despite having been tasked with more of the day-to-day running of the actual SGC over the years, the unobtrusive technician was happiest when sat directly opposite the Stargate, performing routine maintenance on the alien device. It was his greatest regret that he had never been through the Stargate but just making it safer for those who did gave him a warm sense of pride that never failed to bolster him in times of need.  
Glancing at his watch, Walter realised that if there was to be a hot cup of coffee waiting for General Landry when he arrived then now was the time to fetch it. Swivelling his chair around he jumped as he came face to face with a wild-eyed Slayer.

The moment the wormhole engaged Faith ran. Straight through the Stargate and down the stone steps on the other side, letting her Slayer instincts take over and guide her to where she needed to be. Don't stop, don't think about the fact that you're on another planet. Just run. Need to get there in time. Wasted too much time at the SGC as it is.  
Her lungs screaming for respite, legs feeling shaky beneath her. Run it off. Get your second wind or is it your third? Who's counting anyway? Surely it can't be much further now?  
There! In the distance. Smoke rising straight in the still air. Almost there. Just gotta keep going. Don't slow down, gotta get there. Not sure where there is but if there's a Black Knight she's so gonna kick its shiny metallic ass.  
The walls are visible in the distance, not far to go now. Thank God for second winds, Faith thought as she sped up and the huddled mass of the village drew closer.

Valencia groaned as the Black Knight struck his opponent on the back, forcing him to his knees and losing his grip on Arthur's sword in the process. The weapon fell just out of his reach and Valencia's heart leapt into his throat, only Governor Meurik's hand on her arm preventing her from going to his aid.  
A woman clad in tight blue breeches ran through the village gate as the Black Knight pulled his sword back to hit him again and without pausing to look around her dived straight for the Knight, passing through him and sliding through the mud on the ground. When she stood, she held Arthur's sword in her hand and a smile on her face. She easily blocked the Knight's next strike and slowly the armoured helm turned to look at her.

Daniel stared at the glowing control crystals, uncertain of the best cause of action. There was only one really, he thought as he unholstered his gun and aimed it at the crystals.  
"Ahh, screw-"  
"Yo Jackson!" Mitchell's voice echoed from the radio on Daniel's shoulder just as his finger tightened on the gun. "Black Knight's covered."  
"He's gone?" Daniel asked incredulously, holstering his gun.  
"Ah, not exactly." Mitchell's breathing was heavy and laboured as the metallic ring of swords striking one another sounded in the distance.  
Daniel frowned at Merlin as he launched into his pre-recorded speech yet again. "What happened?"  
The smile was evident in Mitchell's voice as he spoke. "Faith's here."  
"Faith?" Daniel was astounded. Surely Faith was long gone from the SGC. What was she doing here in Camelot?  
"She's kicking ass and taking names." Mitchell told him proudly.  
Daniel glanced around the treasure-laden chamber as he struggled to understand what was happening in the world outside Merlin's library.  
"Um, okay."

Valencia watched open-mouthed as the strange woman blocked an overhead blow from the Black Knight and swiftly countered with one to his head. She moved like no-one Valencia had ever seen before. Graceful and deadly, fast and sure-footed, the mud under her feet didn't phase her in the slightest as she slowly forced the Knight to give ground.  
The man that they called Mitchell stood to one side now, happy to cede the battle to the woman. He smiled as he spoke into the black box on his shoulder and struggled to catch his breath. He knew her then. The revelation didn't surprise Valencia. After the events of the last twenty-four hours, even discovering that one of them was Arthur himself wouldn't shock her.  
The Black Knight's sword slipped through a hole in the woman's defence that Valencia hadn't even realised was there and she cried out in pain as it touched her side, jumping away from the contact.  
Mitchell stepped forward, his concern for the woman written on his face but it was misplaced as the woman moved even faster in response, Arthur's sword a shining blur in her hands.  
The woman back-flipped over a cart containing firewood that stood behind her, landing easily in the quagmire. The Black Knight stepped _through_ the cart, swinging wildly at the woman who simply leaned back, allowing his sword to pass though thin air. She lunged forward while the Knight was still completing his swing and drove Arthur's sword through the Knight's breastplate until the tip emerged on the other side.  
The Black Knight rippled oddly in the sunlight and then vanished. The woman planted the sword firmly in the ground at her feet and looked around her for the first time since her arrival as the villagers slowly began to cheer. She caught sight of Mitchell as he stood smiling proudly at her and she grinned back at him as Valencia hesitantly moved towards them.  
Her passage was impeded as one of her neighbours stepped in front of her, a wide smile on his face as he squeezed her arm. Modestly ducking her head, Valencia moved around him only to find another of her fellow villagers in front of her. And another, and another.  
They crowded round her, cheering and smiling. Slowly Valencia began to smile, accepting their praise and congratulations. Beyond them all, Mitchell and the dark-haired woman walked slowly towards Merlin's Library, Arthur's sword still in the woman's hand.

"Greetings friend. I am Merlin. The prize you seek, like the pendulum swing, marks the passage of all that is before you."  
"That," Mitchell decided. "Is gonna get old real fast."  
Daniel looked pointedly at him. "You think?" He asked sarcastically.  
Faith grinned as she swung the sword back and forth through the hologram. "I dunno." She said. "It's kinda cool."  
"Try saying that after you've heard it fifty-three times." Daniel scoffed before narrowing his eyes at the sight of the sword. "Is that...?"  
"Yep." Mitchell said, rocking back and forth on his heels.  
"What?" Faith asked, distracted from the hologram.  
Mitchell nodded at the sword in her hand. "Excalibur." He said with a grin.  
Daniel closed his eyes and prayed for strength. "It's _not_ Excalibur." He told them at the same time as Faith spoke.  
"Cool." She looked at the sword with more respect. "Can I keep it?" She asked.  
"No."  
"Yes."  
Faith pouted and laid the sword on the edge of the funky-looking table. "Buffy gets all the cool weapons."  
"Greetings friend." Merlin began again.  
"Okay I take it all back." Faith told them. "Make him stop."  
Daniel sighed. "I've tried."  
"What does it mean?" Mitchell asked him.  
"I think it's a riddle." Daniel shot an annoyed glance at Faith as she opened her mouth to make a no-doubt sarcastic remark and she quickly shut it again, allowing him to continue. "And I believe I've figured it out." He said excitedly, grabbing the tome from the side of the Ancient control device and showing Mitchell a picture of Merlin.  
"Marks the passage of all that is before you." The man himself told them.  
Daniel glared at the hologram and then focussed. "You see this pendant?" He asked, pointing to it. "Now in every depiction of Merlin in his library he's wearing it, but I've never seen it before, not in any reference material back on Earth."  
Mitchell frowned. "And you think that's the device we're looking for?"  
"The riddle mentions a pendulum; now at first I thought that was a reference to a passage of time, like a pendulum clock, then I realised it was more literal – something that hangs. Merlin also says that it's right before our eyes."  
"Like the pendulum swing." Merlin agreed.  
Mitchell ran his hand though his muddy hair and felt a few strands rip loose with his fingers. "I don't know." He said. "Doesn't that seem, a little small?"  
Daniel sighed exasperatedly as Faith peeked over his shoulder at the book. "Well, just remember we're talking about things that transcend ordinary space-time here. Relative size has no meaning." He told him.  
Faith snorted. "Yeah, they all say that."  
The two men stared at her for a moment before turning back to each other.  
"Fine, we'll look, you find a way to shut him off." Mitchell said, pointing at the hologram as he moved to the nearest pile of treasure.  
Daniel sighed as he headed back to the control device.  
"Greetings friend. I am Merlin."

"What do you mean she went through the 'Gate?" Buffy screamed. "Didn't you tell her we were looking for her?"  
General Landry sighed and dry-swallowed the aspirin Walter had thoughtfully left beside the phone.  
"She said she couldn't wait." He explained. "Apparently there was a 'cheese guy' in her vision and that's how she knew SG1 were in trouble." What the two had to do with each other was a mystery to him but it might make some sense to the woman currently shouting down the phone line at him. He had already decided not to tell her that SG1 should have already left the planet by the time Faith arrived.  
Buffy sighed down the phone. "Was she okay?" She asked quietly.  
"In a hurry." The General told her. "I've sent a team through to bring her back."  
Another sigh echoed across the Atlantic. "Call me when she gets back." Buffy instructed. "Don't let her go anywhere else without speaking to us first."  
"Yes ma'am." General Landry said automatically and knew it was a mistake even before the indrawn breath on the other end of the phone line could tell him.  
The soft burr of a disconnected line sounded in his ear and he gently placed the phone back in it's cradle.  
That could've gone better.

Rings, coins, trinkets and necklaces – none of them holding the pendant they were searching for – trickled through Cam's hands as he stood and turned around.  
"What do you mean it's not here?" He asked exasperatedly.  
Jackson shrugged. "Well, you've been through this stuff twice now. It's not here."  
Cam looked wildly around him, picking up a golden bucket filled with shining treasure and sifting through it. "It's _got_ to be here." He said. "Look, I once lost my keys in my apartment for three days."  
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Faith asked from a corner of the room, a golden tiara glinting lopsidedly from its place on top of her head.  
"Colonel Mitchell?" A tentative voice asked.  
The three travellers turned as one to meet the new threat and relaxed as they saw Meurik standing in the dark doorway, Valencia and other villagers peeking out from behind him.  
"Hi." Cam greeted them, stepping over some treasure to greet them.  
"Greetings friend. I am Merlin." Merlin announced.  
Cam scowled at Jackson. The archaeologist raised his hands in surrender before pressing a few more buttons.  
"I'm working on it." He told him.  
Cam turned back to the villagers. "Come on in." He invited them with a wave of his hand. "Don't be afraid, the Black Knight's not coming back."  
Slowly the villagers trickled into the room, keeping a healthy distance between themselves and the hologram of Merlin. Awed, Muerik stared around at the piles glinting goldenly in the lamplight.  
"It's incredible." He whispered.  
Cam smiled ruefully as he followed Muerik's gaze. "Yeah, it's all yours." He told the man, kicking a golden coin towards him.  
"You do not wish to claim a prize for defeating Merlin's champion?" Muerik asked, bemused at the thought. Who ever heard of treasure-seekers who did not claim a prize?  
"Can I keep Excalibur?" Faith piped up from her corner.  
"No!" Jackson said sharply. "And it's not Excalibur."  
Cam looked around him once again. "Actually there was something we were looking for." He told the village's governor. "But we can't find it."  
Inspired, Jackson picked up the book he was using and crossed over to Muerik. "Actually, maybe you can help us." He said, turning the pages until he came across the picture of Merlin and showing it to Muerik. "Do you recognise this?" He asked, pointing at the pendant.  
Muerik stepped closer to look and his brow cleared as he recognised the item. "This is the Sangraal." He told them.  
"This is the Sangraal?" Jackson asked.  
"It is also known as the blood stone." Muerik explained, giving the object its other name. Perhaps they might have heard of that one.  
Jackson's face cleared of all confusion. "Of course, blood. Blood red for the colour of the jewel." He said to himself.  
"Woah, woah, woah." Cam was officially confused. "Wait, wait a minute." He ordered, holding up his hand. "We're talking about the Holy Grail right? In every movie I've ever seen that's a cup."  
"You guys are looking for the Holy Grail?" Faith asked them, moving forward into the light.  
Ignoring Faith, Jackson stepped back a pace to elaborate for Mitchell. "Er no, the notion that the Grail was a cup or chalice, particularly the one used by Christ at the Last Supper was a late addition to the myth. You see in rare accounts it's described as a dish or platter or, in the case of Von Eschenback in outer Middle East influenced chroniclers, as a 'stone that fell from the heavens'."  
"I don't know about you, but I didn't get a word of that." Faith said to the villagers, leaning her hip against Merlin's table thingy.  
Concerned, Muerik leaned forward, pointing to the Sangraal. "If this is what you seek, you will not find it among these trinkets. Arthur and his knights left to quest for the Sangraal long ago."  
Cam and Jackson exchanged long-suffering looks. "Do you know where they went?" Cam asked the man.  
Muerik nodded. "Of course. It is said that they journeyed to three distant lands mentioned in Merlin's prophecy: Castinanna, Sahal and Vagonbray."  
Faith straightened at the mention of a prophecy but Mitchell was more concerned with the destinations.  
"Any of those spots ring a bell?" He quietly asked Jackson.  
Daniel hugged the book tightly to his chest as he searched his memory. "No, but if they were part of Merlin's prophecies then any one of his books could hold the key to what we're looking for."  
"The books upstairs? Jackson, that's days, _weeks_ to find the proper reference and then there's no guarantee that we're gonna be able to track them down." Cam ran his hand through his hair in exasperation and felt even more hairs yank free of their place. Damn, at this rate he'd be bald before he hit forty.  
"Searching for Arthur's whereabouts in this library is not necessary." Muerik told them with a smile. He placed a hand on Valencia's shoulder. "Now, thanks to Valencia, we've been given a sign that Arthur will return soon and you are welcome to stay with us and wait. As the men that conquered Merlin's curse you will be given a place of honour." He tried to tempt them.  
Jackson spread his arms wide as he tried yet again to convince the villagers. "Look, once and for all there was no curse, okay? This is a device." He told them, gesturing to where Faith lounged against the Ancient control device. "It's a machine; it's like a flour mill or a catapult, it's just a lot more complicated. There is no magic-"  
Unfortunately he was interrupted by a strange whine that filled the air as the two men vanished in a flash of light. Panicked, the villagers drew back and prepared to flee.  
"He's wrong ya know." Faith told them, hopping up onto the machine behind her. One buttock made contact with one of the buttons, pushing it down slightly and the highly irritating hologram of Merlin vanished in much the same way that the boys had. The villagers gasped once again, drawing back even further. Some of them even ran back up the stairs.  
"Huh." Faith said, shifting her weight to look at the button she'd inadvertently pressed. "Anyway, magic is real." She gestured to where Cam and Daniel had been standing. "That wasn't magic, that was just technology, and so's this." She rapped her knuckles on the machine. "But where I come from, magic's so real that you can almost taste it." She pushed off the device and stood, looking around her. "Time to go home I guess." She said absently to herself.  
Picking up the sword to give it back to the villagers before she left, she gazed fondly at it. "Funny, I always thought Excalibur was stuck in a stone." She said absently.  
"It was." A young girl in an ugly dress and brown hat said, stepping forward into the light where Faith could see her properly. "I pulled it out."  
Faith's eyes widened as she recognised the girl from her vision. "Then I guess this belongs to you..." She allowed her voice to trail out, hoping the girl would fill the silence with her name as she extended the sword hilt-first to her.  
"Thank you." The girl breathed as her fingers closed around the weapon.  
Obviously she was gonna have to make all the small talk. "I'm Faith." The Slayer introduced herself.  
Valencia ducked her head shyly. "V-Valencia." She said, cursing herself for stuttering in front of such a fierce warrior.  
Faith smiled kindly at her and opened her mouth only to be cut off by an electronic whine and another flash of light. Turning, Faith's brown eyes tangled with Cam's blue and she couldn't help but smile at him.  
"Wanna come with?" He asked, holding out his hand.  
Faith's smile widened into a grin. "Hell yeah!" She said excitedly, rushing to his side. 


	9. Battlelines Drawn in Dreams

"Fuck me!"  
Faith's amazed expletive unfortunately coincided with Colonel Chekov's welcome aboard. As the volatile Colonel began to turn puce and sputter, Daniel stepped forward with introductions and smoothed everything over. Without having to say another word, Faith was ushered off the Bridge and out into a grey corridor by Cam while Daniel stayed behind to further pacify Colonel Chekov.  
Hallway burred into hallway as Cam ushered her through the bowls of the Korolev.  
"It's big." Faith said finally.  
"Yeah, Sam'd be able to give you all the specs if she was here." Cam caught Faith's slight shudder out of the corner of his eye. "I could tell her you're interested if you want." He teased.  
"Don't bother." Faith absently told him as she looked around, trying to get her bearings. "Where are we going?"  
Cam stopped and opened a grey door with a flourish. "Here." He said, ushering Faith inside and following close behind her.  
Faith looked around the sizeable room with its desk, chair, wardrobe and large double bed and turned to Cam.  
"Your quarters." he explained, a streak of mud down one side of his face shifting as he spoke. "Bathroom's through there, we should get to the Supergate in about eight hours so there's time to get some sleep." Realising what he'd just said Cam glanced at the bed. "Uh, Daniel and I are either side so if you need anything just holler." Oh God that was even worse, Cam mentally groaned as he hastily beat a retreat.  
Faith watched him go, an amused smirk on her face. Looking round at her predictably grey room she sighed and stripped off her muddy black t-shirt. A shower sounded wicked good right now. The dive through the Black Knight at the start of the fight had landed her face first into a quagmire of mud and she didn't want to think what. While it wasn't as bad as killing a Skloppen demon it was damn disgusting. And she smelt.  
Stepping under the hot jet of water Faith found her thoughts turning to the village girl who'd pulled the sword from the stone. What had that guy called her? Valentine? Valerie? Valencia! She'd recognised her from her vision. What did it mean? Should she have brought the girl with her?  
Lashing out in frustration, Faith punched the shower wall. Damn, no wonder B always said the visions were more trouble than they were worth, Faith thought as she rubbed her knuckles. She hadn't second guessed herself more since the day she'd spent in command back in Sunnydale.  
Tipping her head back, Faith let the water cascading down her face wash away her thoughts. 

He found her later in the mess, staring out of the window as the blue and white streaks of hyperdrive went streaming past. Leaning against the doorjamb, he watched her as she watched the galaxy pass by.  
"In or out Flyboy." Her throaty voice told him.  
Uncrossing his arms, Cam entered the room, perching on the table next to Faith. "Jackson's looking for you."  
"He didn't look in here." Faith said, her gaze still trained on the window in front of her. Her dismissive tone made the silence that stretched after it appear longer than it really was.  
"Thanks for the assist earlier." Cam prodded, trying to get Faith to open up. "How'd you get there?" He asked when it became clear Faith wasn't going to answer him.  
"Got a vision." Faith noticed his alarm and glanced at him. "Not one of ours." She reassured him. "A Slayer dream. Got to the 'Gate and convinced Walter to let me through then I ran straight to the village. What was that place called?"  
"Camelot." Cam told her, anticipating her reaction. He wasn't disappointed.  
"Shit me up, you're joking!" Faith turned to fully face him, her eyes bright. "Damn, how many other people can say they been to Camelot." Her face turned grave and she sighed. "Can I ask you something?"  
"Sure."  
"Do you ever think about the normal people? Going on with their normal lives, looking up at the night sky and never guessing that we're already out there." Faith paused, not knowing how to put what she meant into words and failing miserably. This would be so much easier if she could just _think_ what she was feeling at him. If he could sense the impending doom she felt gathering around them.  
"Not really." Cam slowly admitted.  
"Me either." Faith caught Cam's surprised look and tried again. "It's just... this is the coolest thing I've ever done and I can't tell anyone." That wasn't it either. Faith sighed, frustrated.  
"I freaked out when I found out about the Stargate Program." Cam confided. Surprised, Faith looked at him, knowing how much he loved the SGC. "Finding out that the galaxy doesn't revolve around Earth is seriously scary. But every time I step through that gate I get a rush. That rush doesn't change the fact that I can't tell anyone what I do. It does make it easier."  
Leaning back, her palms flat on the table behind her, Faith considered. "It's kinda like the Slaying gig. Fighting to make the world safer for another day when people would think you were crazy if you told 'em what you do. I get that. I guess what I'm tryin' to say is... I need a smoke." Faith gave up trying.  
Suddenly remembering, Cam dove into his pocket and pulled out the rather battered peace offering he'd bought her so long ago.  
"You're not supposed to smoke onboard." He warned her before handing over the pack of cigarettes.  
"Where the fuck did you get those?" Faith demanded to know, staring at the deck as though it was made out of gold.  
Cam scratched his head. "I got them a while ago. They were supposed to be a peace offering only I never got to give them to you."  
"Oh."  
Faith fell silent, the only sound in the deserted room that of her fingernails tapping against the packet. Just when Cam thought he was going to have to break the unbearable silence or leave, Faith spoke.  
"Listen, about what happened..."  
"It didn't mean anything." Cam anticipated what he already knew she was going to say.  
"It didn't? It didn't. It's perfectly natural."  
"Normal."  
"Healthy. To be honest I was kinda worried you were a eunuch."  
"Hey!" Cam objected to the slur on his masculinity.  
"Let's face it, we're just two people who happened to share a fantasy while inadvertently mind-linked." Faith said, making it all up as she went along. "There's no reason to feel weird about it." Maybe if she told herself that often enough she'd actually believe it, Faith thought. "Deal?"  
"Deal." Cam agreed, glad that they had that settled and at the same time, feeling oddly dissatisfied.  
The pair watched the space pass by in silence, separated by inches yet odly aware of each others breathing, glances and movements.  
"We're almost there." Cam said, looking at his watch and suddenly realising that an hour had passed without him noticing. He jumped off the table. "Better head up to the Bridge."

Faith felt the evil emanating from the massive ships as they exited the Supergate and every Slayer sense she possessed stretched taut, sending warning alarms through her body and filling her with the urge to fight. "I only count four ships." Cam spoke from beside her.  
"It's probably their first wave." Daniel told him.  
"We should see what we can do about discouraging a second one."  
Colonel Chekhov reeled off some orders in Russian as Faith's gaze centred on the last of the ships to exit the colossal gate. Hanging back slightly when compared to the others, the bad vibes she got from that ship were multiplied as they course through her body. There was something _really_ bad on that ship and she wasn't sure she wanted to find out what.  
The helmsman spat a lot of Russian at Colonel Chekhov and Daniel wheeled around.  
"Let me see." He said, standing behind the man and reading aloud over his shoulder. "And those who are prideful and refuse to bow down shall be laid low and made unto dust."  
"Is that all it says?" Colonel Chekhov asked him.  
"Yeah, that's it." Cam confirmed.  
"Open a channel."  
Colonel Chekhov gave the order in his native language and Daniel moved over to speak into the console. "Then did DiTialus say to the people of the low planes: Seek not wickedness amongst your neighbours lest it find purchase in your own house." He nodded for the man to stop the recording.  
"What was that?" Cam asked.  
"Book of Origin."  
"Think it'll help?"  
Daniel shrugged unsure. The three Americans found themselves grouping more tightly together as an outburst of Russian filled the room.  
"They're powering up their weapons." Daniel translated for the other two's benefit. "Colonel Chekhov's giving the order to fire."  
And as easily as that battle was joined. Faith watched horrified as the Ori weapon sliced through the ship in front of them, their return fire impacting uselessly on the Ori ships shields. Ruthlessly she clamped down on her instincts, unable to reach the ships and those manning them she could only watch as they set about destroying the armada that had gathered to stop them.  
The Korolev rocked repeatedly underneath her feet, bucking as the Ori weapon struck its shields. Several people went flying, one man knocking himself out on a bulkhead and being dragged out by Cam but Faith kept her feet firmly beneath her, not budging an inch as the ship heaved and a small fire broke out. Gradually, as the ship sustained more fire, the bridge began to disintegrate around them and Faith looked around her with alarm.  
"We've lost power." Colonel Chekhov shouted above the noise of the blaring alarms.  
Cam fought his way over to him. "We have to scramble the 302's!"  
"No, they'll have no effect against that!" The Colonel argued, gesturing emphatically at the huge Ori ship that dominated the viewscreen.  
"Hey! We're getting our asses kicked." Cam reminded him. "It's time to go all in. I'll draw their fire while you get the ship back on line."  
"Go! Go!" Chekhov shouted as Cam lurched off the Bridge.  
Following, Faith quickly caught up with him, her Slayer abilities making it easier for her to stay steady. "I'll come with you." She offered.  
"No, you stay here." Cam told her before leaning in and quickly kissing her soft lips.  
Damned if she didn't taste exactly the way she had in the vision. All dark chocolate and cinnamon. The ship lurched beneath them and he reluctantly pulled away.  
"I'll see you soon." He promised, heading down the corridor. "Stay with Jackson!" He shouted back as he disappeared around a corner.

"So Faith has gone off with SG-1 to a honking great space battle?" Xander shouted down his cellphone, cursing the bad reception as Tiffany neatly chopped the head off the scaly demon charging at him.  
"That's right." General Landry's voice was faint and tinny on the other end of the line. "Is this a bad time?"  
"Just a small skirmish." Xander told him, ducking under a vampire's punch and coming back up with an uppercut that sent the vampire stumbling back. Something whizzed past him and buried itself in the vampire's chest. It snarled as it exploded into ashes and Xander turned to see Rona give him a small wave before fitting another quarrel in her crossbow and disappearing back into the fight.  
"Barely even a three on the apocalypse scale." Xander continued as though nothing had happened.  
"You have a scale?" The incredulity in General Landry's voice was obvious despite the awfulness of the line.  
"Yeah. Gotta go." Spotting a Mojana demon about to attack an unsuspecting Kelsey, Xander ended the call and leapt back into the fray.

By the time Faith got back to the Bridge they were shouting about nukes and rings and Daniel was headed out of the door. Following him as he raced down increasingly smoke filled corridors, Faith watched as the crew around them began to show signs of panicking.  
"What's the plan?" She shouted.  
"We're gonna ring a nuke on board one of their ships and hope it blows up." Daniel shouted back as he skidded to a halt in a small room with two people fiddling with a squat device.  
"Good plan." Faith approved.  
"Thanks." Daniel said, fiddling with coloured crystals in a small console set into one wall. "Set the device to go off five seconds after activation." He instructed the two technicians.  
Suddenly the room rocked, knocking the device into the technicians and across the room. Faith felt her ears pop as Daniel frantically pushed two buttons, grabbed her and flung them both into a circle on the floor. Metal bands rose up around them, a bright light flashed and the rings sank back down into a different floor. Standing, Daniel hurried to the wall as feet sounded, marching in unison closer and closer to their position.  
Tucking herself behind him, Faith watched as a troop of soldiers in an unfamiliar uniform strode straight past the room.  
"Fuck!" She whispered. "You feel that?"  
"Feel what?" Daniel asked, pulling out his gun.  
"There's something evil on board." Faith shivered. "And it's coming for us."

Deep in the bowels of Cheyanne Mountain, in the deserted storeroom of a secret Military base at the exact same time the matter stream left the Korlev a neon orange light blinded out the room. It was gone as quickly as it arrived and when it had faded anyone could be forgiven for not noticing that the short orange crystal on top of an alien device stored there had regrown a centimetre.


End file.
